In the Outaouais, larger contracts than elsewhere, and less gré à gré
The second-highest median contract of the seventeen regions, one of the lowest gré à gré shares, and a little less competition: the review in the Outaouais.
By Philippe Dallaire, founder ·
The public procurement review measures, region by region, the size of contracts, the share of gré à gré and the competition on public calls for tenders. The Outaouais stands out on the first two: its contracts are among the largest in Quebec, and a larger share goes through competition than elsewhere. Competition itself is a little thinner than average.
The second-highest median contract of the seventeen regions
In 2024 and 2025, the median contract awarded in the Outaouais was $83K, against $69K for all of Quebec. Only Laval has a higher median contract ($94K). The review does not say why: what a contract is worth depends first on what is being bought.
Less gré à gré
The share of awarded processes given by gré à gré is 46%, against 62% for all of Quebec. Only Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Centre-du-Québec and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean have a lower share. A gré à gré contract awarded below the public-tender threshold is lawful.
The two measures likely touch. Gré à gré contracts are mostly contracts below the threshold, so smaller ones; a region where they weigh less has, all else equal, a higher median contract. That is not the whole story: Laval has the highest median contract with a gré à gré share above Quebec's.
A little less competition per call
Of the 1,212 public calls that closed in 2024 and 2025 on notices naming only the Outaouais, a call drew 3.4 bidders on average, against 4.0 for all of Quebec. Of those calls, 21% drew a single bid, against 18% for Quebec. Only the Côte-Nord, Gaspésie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Nord-du-Québec have a higher share.
What the review does not say
The review counts bids; it does not say why there are a few fewer here, and a single bid says nothing about how a contract was awarded. Two things may weigh. The region is large, and much of its territory is far from the centres where firms are numerous. And some of the neighbouring firms are established across the Ottawa River, in Ontario: below the thresholds of the intergovernmental agreements, a public body may require an establishment in Quebec. The review measures neither.
For a bidder
A larger share of contracts than elsewhere goes through a public call, those contracts tend to be large, and each call draws slightly fewer competitors than average: a firm that follows the calls in its trade in the region finds room there. For a firm established in Ontario, everything turns on the threshold of the contract in question; the rules are in Bidding on Quebec public tenders from Ontario.