Contracting Policy Notice 2021-1: Entry into force of the Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement

From Treasury Board Secretariat

Date: April 1, 2021
To: Functional Heads, Finance and Administration of all Departments and Agencies
Subject: Entry into force of the Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement

Summary

The Agreement on Trade Continuity between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Canada-UK TCA) enters into force on April 1, 2021. This agreement is an international free trade agreement between Canada and the United Kingdom, and it includes government procurement obligations for both parties.

The Canada-UK TCA incorporates the government procurement obligations of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by reference. This means that the government procurement obligations in Canada-UK TCA (including procedural rules and market access, including covered entities, commodities and thresholds) are identical to those already established in CETA. Thus, compliance with the Canada-UK TCA requires no adjustments to existing Federal procurement processes, other than identifying its application where required. All departments and agencies are encouraged to review Chapter 19 and associated annexes on government procurement in CETA in order to familiarize themselves with Canada’s obligations under CETA and the Canada-UK TCA and their applicability to potential contracts. Contracting Policy Notice 2017-4 also provides information on the CETA obligations relating to government procurement.

Thresholds for Trade Agreements

As of April 1, 2021, the thresholds for procurements subject to free trade agreements to which the federal government is a party is as follows:

Thresholds
(CDN$ April 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021)

Internal Free Trade Agreement	Entities (departments and agencies)			Crown corporations and other government enterprises
	Goods	Services	Construction	Goods	Services	Construction
Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)	26,400	105,700	105,700	528,300	528,300	5,283,200

Thresholds
(CDN$ April 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021)

International Free Trade Agreement	Entities (departments and agencies)			Crown corporations and other government enterprises
	Goods	Services	Construction	Goods	Services	Construction
Canada–Chile Free Trade AgreementFootnote *	108,400	108,400	9,100,000	542,400	542,400	17,300,000
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)	238,000	238,000	9,100,000	650,000	650,000	9,100,000
Canada–Colombia Free Trade AgreementFootnote *	108,400	108,400	9,100,000	542,400	542,400	17,300,000
Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)	238,000	238,000	9,100,000	Annex 19-3, Section A: 650,000	Annex 19-3, Section A: 650,000	9,100,000
				Annex 19-3, Section B: 732,400	Annex 19-3, Section B: 732,400
Canada–Honduras Free Trade Agreement	108,400	108,400	9,100,000	542,400	542,400	17,300,000
Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement	100,000	100,000	9,100,000	N/A	N/A	N/A
Canada–Panama Free Trade Agreement	108,400	108,400	9,100,000	542,400	542,400	17,300,000
Canada–Peru Free Trade Agreement	173,900	173,900	9,100,000	542,400	542,400	17,300,000
Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA)	238,000	238,000	9,100,000	CETA Annex 19-3, Section A: 650,000	CETA Annex 19-3, Section A: 650,000	9,100,000
				Annex 19-3, Section B: 732,400	Annex 19-3, Section B: 732,400
Canada–Ukraine Free Trade AgreementFootnote *	238,000	238,000	9,100,000	650,000	650,000	9,100,000
World Trade Organization–Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-GPA)	238,000	238,000	9,100,000	650,000	650,000	9,100,000
Table Footnotes Footnote 1 Under the free trade agreements that Canada has with Chile, Colombia and Ukraine, there are “extended transparency” commitments to provide suppliers with information regarding procurements for which they are not eligible to bid but where (1) an open-tendering process is used, and (2) the procurement value exceeds CAN $124,000 for Chile and Ukraine and CAN $150,000 for Colombia. Return to footnote * referrer

References

The trade agreements to which this Contracting Policy Notice pertains have been hyperlinked in the table above.

• Contracting Policy Notice 2017-4: Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA)
• Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement
• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
• Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations
• Treasury Board Contracting Policy

Enquiries

1. For matters of content regarding the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement, please contact
   

   Global Affairs Canada:

   Telephone:
   1-800-267-8376 (toll-free in Canada)
   613-944-4000 (in the National Capital Region and outside Canada)
   If you are deaf or hard of hearing, or you have a speech impediment and use a text telephone, you can access the TTY service from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time by calling 613-944-9136 (in Canada only).

   Facsimile: 613-996-9709

   Email: enqserv@international.gc.ca

   Write to:
   Enquiries Service (BCI)
   Global Affairs Canada
   125 Sussex Drive
   Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0G2

2. For information with respect to the TB Contracting Policy, please contact TBS Public Enquiries.