About Us

Office of the Procurement Ombudsman

The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) is an independent organization with a government-wide mandate. The position of Procurement Ombudsman was created by amendments to the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act enacted pursuant to the Federal Accountability Act which received Royal Assent on December 12, 2006. The Office's overall objective is to strengthen the fairness, openness and transparency of federal procurement.

The Procurement Ombudsman's mandate is to:

• Review the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services to assess their fairness, openness and transparency and make any appropriate recommendations to the relevant department for the improvement of those practices.
• Review any complaint respecting the award of a contract for the acquisition of goods below the value of $25,000 and services below the value of $100,000.
• Review any complaint respecting the administration of a contract for the acquisition of materiel or services by a department, regardless of dollar value.
• Ensure that an alternative dispute resolution process is provided, if both parties agree to participate.

The Department of Public Works and Government Services Act also specifies that the Procurement Ombudsman must also perform any other duty or function respecting the practices of departments for acquiring materiel and services that may be assigned to the Procurement Ombudsman by order of the Governor in Council or the Minister.
Our commitment is to ensure that the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman is:

• Independent - operate at arm's-length from government departments.
• Neutral - neither a lobbyist for suppliers nor an apologist for federal government departments.
• Helpful - share best practices among departments; demystify the complex procurement process for suppliers.
• Knowledgeable - about procurement policies, procedures and best practices.
• Responsive - to supplier needs.
• Part of the solution - identify systemic issues, and make balanced and useful recommendations to strengthen the fairness, openness and transparency of federal procurement activities.