In Laval, more bidders per call for tenders than anywhere else in Quebec

The Côte-Nord is the region where a public call for tenders most often draws a single bid. Laval is at the other end of the scale: in 2024 and 2025, the public procurement review measures the strongest competition of the seventeen regions there.

The most bidders per call

Of the 736 public calls that closed in 2024 and 2025 on notices naming only Laval, a call drew 4.9 bidders on average, against 4.0 for all of Quebec. It is the highest average of the seventeen regions. Conversely, only 12% of those calls drew a single bid, against 18% for Quebec: the lowest share of the seventeen regions.

What the review does not say

The review counts bids; it does not say why there are many. Laval is a small region at the heart of the metropolitan area, where firms are most numerous in Quebec. A firm from Montréal, the Laurentides or Lanaudière can answer a call there without pricing a long trip. Distance, which weighs on the Côte-Nord, likely weighs little here.

Larger contracts, and slightly more gré à gré

The median contract is the largest of the seventeen regions: $94K, against $69K for Quebec. The review does not say why: the value of a contract depends first on what is being bought. The share of awarded processes given by gré à gré is 65%, slightly above all of Quebec (62%). A gré à gré contract awarded below the public-tender threshold is lawful.

For a bidder

On a public call in Laval, expect more competitors than elsewhere. When there are many, a bid that is compliant the first time and a carefully worked price count for more, because another firm will almost always be there to take the place. For contracts awarded by gré à gré, which go through no public call, the way in is to be known to the region's public bodies before they award.