Integrity in Public Contracts Act – Authorization for contracts over $10M

Following an official decision by the Québec government, the threshold above which certain public contracts will be subject to the Integrity in Public Contracts Act will be lowered this fall.

In view of this lower threshold, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) encourages enterprises that intend to bid, over the coming months, on a construction contract or subcontract or a public-private partnership contract equal to or greater than $10 million to complete and file the required application for authorization in advance and without delay.

The Government will designate, by Order in Council, the contract values, categories and groups for which AMF authorization will be required. To ensure that their authorization applications are filed with the AMF on time, enterprises seeking to do business with Québec public bodies are encouraged to sign up for E-mail Info – Public contracts to receive up-to-date information about changes to contract values, categories and groups.

Fees
At the time of filing an application for authorization, enterprises are required to pay a fee of $400 for the analysis of their file and $200 for each person or entity subject to an audit, including officers, directors and/or partners.

Processing of applications
The AMF will then verify whether the applications are complete and compliant, before forwarding the information obtained to UPAC. In co-operation with the Sûreté du Québec, Revenu Québec, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec and the Commission de la construction du Québec, UPAC performs the audits it considers necessary and gives the AMF an opinion regarding the enterprise applying for authorization. This opinion will indicate the reason UPAC is recommending or, as the case may be, refusing authorization. Once it has received the opinion from UPAC, the AMF will issue a decision on the authorization application.

Enterprises that obtain AMF authorization will be entered immediately in the Register of enterprises with authorization to enter into public contracts or subcontracts, available on the AMF website.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec’s financial sector.