Priority Saskatchewan’s mandate is to review all provincial government procurement activities with a view to adopting new approaches that ultimately benefit Saskatchewan businesses.

One key Priority Saskatchewan recommendation is that ‘best value’ be the standard when making provincial government procurement decisions. This is triggering a movement away from low price as the sole determining factor in vendor selection.  ACEC-SK has long advocated for Qualifications-Based Selection which supports best value, and therefore is recognized as a primary industry stakeholder in this discussion.

ACEC-SK has recently been consulted on two major initiatives.  The first was to provide input on necessary legislative changes that support best value procurement.  Our association incorporated as part of its recommendations information from a Saskatchewan Construction Panel report that encourages harmonization of all provincial procurement legislation.  When there is inconsistency right at the legislative level, is it any wonder there are inconsistent procurement processes across government?

ACEC-SK was also invited to offer its views from a professional services perspective on how to define ‘best value’, including what criteria could be used to gauge best value. It is encouraging to hear there are likely three main categories to be considered, and value for professional services should be measured with a different yardstick that construction services and materials.

ACEC-SK looks forward to participating in the discussion.