If your business is interested in working with the City of Merritt, please ensure you are registered on BCBid.gov.bc.ca to receive notifications about upcoming opportunities. In most cases, general contractors are selected through an open public procurement process. Individual suppliers or subcontractors may wish to connect with firms planning to submit bids. While the City does not influence the hiring decisions of general contractors, it can provide them with a list of local subcontractors upon request.
The City of Merritt’s current Public Bids and Requests are hosted by the Interior Purchasing Office Bid Opportunities Website, which allows potential Bidders to create a Bidding System Vendor account. Bidders through that site are solely responsible for ensuring their Vendor account information is kept current.
Looking for Opportunities on our Flood Mitigation Dike Projects?
Below are some selected FAQs from the flood.merritt.ca website. Get more information from the Flood Mitigation team on their webpage or email floodmitigation@merritt.ca. (Do not contact the City of Merritt Public Works department for Flood Mitigation projects).
What is the procurement process for the set-back dike 129 & 130 project?
The City will generally conduct a quote or competition process for procurements, in accordance with its purchasing policy, to ensure that the City achieves best overall value. Most procurements for this project are anticipated to exceed the thresholds* of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA); which is a trade agreement between the Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; and are therefore required to be conducted through open public competition (e.g. a publicly-advertised Request for Proposals or Invitation to Tender process).
One objective of the NWPTA is to promote open and free trade among Canada’s Western Provinces, meaning that the City must provide equal treatment to all companies that bid such public competitions, regardless of whether such companies are considered local or not.
That said, companies that are based locally will often have an inherent advantage of lower costs to reach the site, and the City actively encourages local companies to engage with procurements issued by the City.
Local companies may contact the Flood Mitigation Team to gain updates on potential procurement windows for the project and are advised to register on BC Bid (https://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca) where companies can receive certain notifications. When the City issues a public competition which exceeds the NWPTA thresholds*, it will be advertised on BC Bid and the competition details will include full instructions on how a company can register and participate in the competition. A contact person is also provided for each competition in case a potential bidder has questions on how to submit a proposal.
*Note: Under NWPTA, public competition is required >$75k for goods/services, >$200k for construction.
I want to get a job on one of the projects, how would I do that?
In accordance with the City’s Purchasing Policy and requirements of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA); most contractors that work on the project will be selected through open public competition, to ensure that the City achieves best overall value.
The City will often recruit a ‘general contractor’ for construction, that will in-turn likely contract with ‘subcontractors’ and suppliers. Individuals that are interested in working on the project may wish to seek out firms that are likely interested in participating in the project either as a general contractor or subcontractor/supplier.
Due to requirements for open public competition under NWPTA, and under a typical City agreement with contractors; the City cannot influence contractor hiring and recruitment decisions, however the City will be able to provide a list of companies that register for most competitions and local individuals may contact these regarding job opportunities.
