How to Register on SEAO: The Complete Walkthrough for an SME

Mathieu finally wants to bid on public contracts. He lands on SEAO, and there's the first hesitation: do you have to pay? which type of account do you create? how do you avoid drowning your inbox in unrelated notices? Registration looks trivial, but it's what decides whether SEAO becomes a prospecting tool or a source of confusion.

First, what registration changes (and what's free)

SEAO works on two levels. Browsing calls for tenders (scanning them, reading the summaries, seeing who's looking for what) is free and requires no account. You can explore the market right now, without registering.

The account becomes necessary the moment you move into action:

Keep the distinction in mind: browsing is free, but you can't take part without an account. And taking part sometimes involves fees, which we come back to below.

Step 1: Gather your business information

Before creating the account, have on hand the details that identify you as a Québec business:

If your Québec business must be registered and doesn't have a NEQ yet, settle this before bidding seriously: several public bodies use it to verify your identity and status. It's also one of the first documents in any bid file.

Step 2: Create the account and set it up

Registration is done from the SEAO website, by first creating a professional account with the Government Authentication Service. You then configure your organization (identified by the NEQ), then designate the users and their roles. Think from the start about who does what: the person who monitors the notices isn't necessarily the one who signs and submits the bid. A well-organized account keeps a call for tenders from falling through the cracks.

Step 3: Tune your notices so they're useful

This is the step most new registrants skip, and yet it's the one that turns SEAO into a prospecting machine. Two options: monitor the advanced search yourself (free), or activate jumelage (an optional service, tied to the subscription services and billed per notified notice) that automatically sends you the matching notices.

Either way, the targeting rests on search criteria: product and service codes (the UNSPSC classification), keywords, and geographic area. If your codes are too narrow, you only see a fraction of the opportunities; too broad, and you drown in off-topic notices and end up ignoring everything. The right approach: a few codes that cover your core business, plus one or two adjacent codes, and a realistic geographic area.

Step 4: Register in the Supplier Directory

Beyond the notices you receive, SEAO lets public bodies find you. By registering in the Supplier Directory, you become visible to the public buyers who build their invitation lists. It's decisive for every contract that doesn't go through an open public call for tenders: the invitation-only call for tenders and the contract by mutual agreement are decided before publication, from the suppliers the body already knows. Without a presence in the Directory, you lose an official channel for public buyers to discover you.

Step 5: Understand the fees before you order

Browsing is free, and registration is too; but some services are pay-per-use. Ordering documents can trigger fees (document, preparation, order). The electronic submission (STVE) is billed per submission, around $30, or $20 with the subscription services. On top of that come optional subscriptions (a few dollars per month per user) and email jumelage (billed per notified notice). Before ordering, check the price shown for the notice you're interested in: a paid document for a contract you have no chance of winning is a wasted expense.

Once registered: the routine that pays off

Registration isn't an end, it's the starting point of a habit. The suppliers who win public contracts are the ones who check regularly, refine their codes as notices come in, and react fast when a relevant opportunity appears. Give yourself a weekly appointment with SEAO: ten minutes to scan the new notices in your sector beats a panicked check the day before a deadline.

What to remember

Registering on SEAO takes a few minutes; registering well changes your flow of opportunities. Create an account in the company's name with a monitored inbox, tune your codes to receive the right notices, register in the Supplier Directory to be found, and only pay for a document when the contract is worth it. From there, SEAO works for you.

Sources

• Québec's electronic tendering system (SEAO), seao.gouv.qc.ca: account creation, Supplier Directory, ordering documents and fee schedule (consulted in 2026).
• Registraire des entreprises du Québec: Québec enterprise number (NEQ) and registration.
• Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor: goods and services classification (UNSPSC) used for notice jumelage.