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Brief description of the notified legal text
On
June 13, 2025, amendments to the Canadian
International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations
(Regulations) came into force. The Regulations Amending the Canadian International Trade
Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations
(SOR/2025-140), along with the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement, were
published in Part II of the Canada Gazette on July 2, 2025.
These amendments to the Regulations support
the implementation of Canada's Interim Policy on
Reciprocal Procurement, which limits
access to Canada's federal non-defence procurement market to Canadians and
trading partners who provide reciprocal access to Canada via trade
agreements, including the WTO GPA. Under this approach, and subject to
certain exceptions, suppliers located in countries with which Canada has no
procurement trade obligations will no longer have access to the federal
procurement market, while suppliers located in countries with which Canada
has a trade agreement will receive access to the federal procurement market
as provided for in the respective trade agreement.
The amendments clarify that a
"potential supplier," who can bring a complaint to the Canadian
International Trade Tribunal (CITT), is limited to Canadian businesses or
businesses of a trade agreement country with procurement trade obligations. The
amendments include other clarifications to provide interpretive principles
for and support implementation of these changes, such as updating the
conditions for inquiry, and limiting the potential remedies that may be
granted by the CITT to businesses with valid complaints.
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