Ottawa Partner and Co-Leader of Fasken’s National Security Group, Marcia Mills, discusses the challenges encountered by SMEs bidding on federal defence contracts in an article published in the Ottawa Business Journal.
She explains that the phased procurement process used by the federal government for large contracts often run for years, which present resourcing challenges for SMEs, and suggests looking at the provinces for potential solutions.
“At the provincial level, we see very complex procurements that get prepared, executed, completed and contracts awarded in a much shorter period of time,ˮ said Partner Marcia Mills. “Provincial governments take a much more practical view on procurement, with an ability to look at the risk profile and make a decision, validate the decision and then decide to move forward or not.ˮ
