The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Responsible for Public Procurement Agency:

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide this Honourable House with an update on how we are improving the way suppliers do business with the Provincial Government.

In November, the Public Procurement Agency will launch a new e-procurement system that will allow users to submit, view and manage bid submissions online.

Vendors who do business with government will no longer be required to drop off paper copies to the procurement offices of Tendering and Contracts and the Public Procurement Agency.

Instead, they will be able to manage their own accounts, identify types of open calls relevant to their business, and receive electronic notification when open calls are published.

Vendors will still be able to bid on open calls through the current paper-based process if they choose. However, training webinars are being offered so that all vendors can become familiar and comfortable with the new system and we anticipate all vendors will be using the new online system in the near future.

Mr. Speaker, the Public Procurement Agency and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure award hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts each year. By launching the new e-procurement system, we are helping all suppliers do business with the Provincial Government in a user-friendly environment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.