On the Côte-Nord, the highest share of single-bid calls for tenders

The public procurement review counts, region by region, how many firms answer public calls for tenders. After Gaspésie, here is the Côte-Nord: with Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Abitibi-Témiscamingue, it was one of the three regions where they were fewest in 2024 and 2025, and it was the one where a public call most often ended with a single bid.

More single-bid calls than anywhere else

Of the 692 public calls that closed in 2024 and 2025 on notices naming only the Côte-Nord, 33% drew a single bid, against 18% for all of Quebec. It is the highest share of the seventeen regions. A call there draws 2.8 bidders on average, against 4.0 across Quebec.

What the review does not say

The review counts the bids received; it does not give the reason. A call that draws a single bid says nothing about how the contract was awarded: it says that one firm answered. On the Côte-Nord, two features of the region likely weigh: a very large territory, stretched along the river and the gulf, which a firm from elsewhere has to cross to reach the site, and a small number of firms based there for each kind of work.

Less gré à gré than the average

The share of awarded processes given by gré à gré is 54%, lower than all of Quebec (62%). A gré à gré contract awarded below the public-tender threshold is lawful. The median contract, for its part, is in line with elsewhere: $69K on the Côte-Nord, $69K for all of Quebec.

For a bidder

When so large a share of calls draws a single bid, a firm that answers the calls in its trade stands a good chance of finding itself alone, or nearly. The market stays open to a firm from outside, provided it prices the travel, the lodging and the mobilisation into the bid rather than finding them on site. And since gré à gré weighs less there than elsewhere, a larger share of contracts is awarded after competition.