Register as a federal government supplier in Canada through the Buy and Sell successor, CanadaBuys: the Supplier Registration Information steps that produce a Procurement Business Number, the business profile buyers see, and the SAP Business Network information to gather before you start.
Applies in: CA
Start from the current name, not the old one. Buyandsell.gc.ca is being replaced by CanadaBuys, a suite of procurement services launched by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), and suppliers are directed to visit CanadaBuys to get started, including how to register in the procurement tools, according to Buyandsell.gc.ca is being decommissioned: Frequently asked questions. CanadaBuys is the official source for Government of Canada tender and award notices, and visiting CanadaBuys is how you register as a supplier, complete your business profile, and access the electronic procurement solution, according to Electronic procurement. This guide follows the registration steps PSPC publishes on those current pages. It covers registration and the supplier profile only. It does not cover finding or bidding on a specific opportunity, professional-services sourcing tools such as the Centralized Professional Services System e-Portal, security clearances, or any business advice about whether selling to the government suits your business.
State plainly what registration does and does not do. Registration makes your company's name and supply capabilities widely known to federal departments and agencies, who may use the Supplier Registration Information (SRI) system to identify sources of supply for the goods and services they buy, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. PSPC is the main procurement arm of the federal government, and in order to sell goods or services to the government, your business needs to be registered as a supplier, according to Seminar notes: How the government buys what you sell. Registration does not award you work, pre-qualify you under a standing offer or supply arrangement, or decide any bid: each solicitation states its own requirements, and a standing offer or supply arrangement is not a contract until the government issues a call-up or solicits bids from the pre-qualified pool, on the same seminar-notes page. Treat registration as the entry in the buyers' systems, and nothing more.
One piece of procurement context helps you judge which registrations matter. Purchases below $25,000 for goods and $40,000 for services and construction, including all applicable taxes, are considered low dollar value procurements and are often direct purchases from vendors, while procurement over those amounts is done through the solicitation of bids and quotes using a tendering process, according to Seminar notes: How the government buys what you sell. Those thresholds describe how the government buys; they are not a promise about what any registered supplier will be offered.
PSPC publishes two supplier registrations, and the right one depends on the opportunities you will pursue. Register in SAP Ariba to view and respond to opportunities posted to the electronic procurement solution, and register in Supplier Registration Information (SRI) to obtain your Procurement Business Number (PBN), which is currently required for bids that are not processed through SAP Ariba, according to Electronic procurement. The seminar notes state the same fork as registering on the procurement platform or platforms that apply to your goods and services, according to Seminar notes: How the government buys what you sell. If you are already registered in SAP Ariba, the electronic procurement page states to log in to verify your supplier details; if you are already registered in SRI, it states to verify that your supplier registration information is up to date. Do not register twice in either system to fix a mistake: the SAP Business Network checklist states you can only have one SAP Business Network account per Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number, and directs suppliers with more than one account under the same number to contact the CanadaBuys Service Desk to say which account they will use, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network.
Sections 2 to 5 follow the SRI steps exactly as PSPC states them in its reference sheet. Section 6 covers the SAP Business Network information PSPC states you must gather. Professional-services sourcing tools are a separate route: the electronic procurement page lists learning about registering in sourcing tools for professional services, including ProServices, separately from the two registrations in this guide, and this guide gives no steps for that route.
SRI registration starts from CRA records, so settle both identifiers before you open the registration form. Retrieve your Business Number (BN) made up of 9 digits, and use the BN associated with your Goods and Services Tax (GST) account issued by the CRA, not a provincial BN, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. For more information about your CRA BN, the same page points to the Business number registration web page and the CRA at 1-800-959-7775.
Your legal name must match CRA records exactly. It is the name of your business exactly as registered with the CRA, and if you are self-employed, your legal name consists of your first and last name, on the same Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system page. The page cautions that registration issues often arise from errors in entering the legal name, and that even an extra space leads to the registration being denied. Before you type anything, compare the name and head office address against the CRA record: the SAP Business Network checklist states that if you are unsure of your business legal name, you should use the Government of Canada GST/HST Registry Search to verify that you have entered the legal name and the civic address for your business head office as registered with the CRA, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network. Fix any mismatch with the CRA first; the SRI form cannot correct a CRA record.
Follow the SRI reference sheet in order. Go to the SRI website and choose the language of your preference, click on Start Registration, enter your Business Number and click on Start Registration to move on to the next step, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. Next, enter the requested information (legal name, registrant name, phone number, email, username, password, confirmation of password) and click on Continue. You will see a confirmation page: verify the information and click on Continue to move on to the next step. The window titled Step 1 Completed indicates that the CRA is confirming the validity of your BN and legal name, on the same page.
The validation email is the step that produces your Procurement Business Number. You will receive an email from Procurement Assistance Canada with the subject line Validation of your SRI (Supplier Registration Information) Registration, with two possible responses: validation failed, where you should carefully check your BN and legal name, since the majority of failed validation attempts by the CRA are due to an error in the information entered; or validation complete, where you note your PBN in the validation email (the page gives the example 123456789 PG0001) and scroll down to click on the link to access your account, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. Validation can take a few minutes. If you do not receive a confirmation email in two business days, or if you have difficulty validating your information, contact the InfoLine at sac-pac@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca, on the same page. Keep the validation email: it is the record of the PBN and the link into the account, and the PBN is the identifier you will enter to access the account in the next step.
With the PBN in hand, complete the profile screens in the order PSPC states them. To access your account, enter the requested information (PBN, username, password) and click Submit, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. Then enter information about your business, with the mandatory fields being registrant name, phone number, email, type of ownership, country of ownership, business size, business sector, official language, and Aboriginal supplier, and click on Submit to move on to the next step.
Next, enter your mailing address, with the mandatory fields being address line 1, city, province, territory or state if in Canada or the United States, country, and postal or ZIP code, and click on Submit, on the same Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system page. The page adds an important payment note at this screen: payments are no longer issued through the mail but processed electronically through direct deposit. You will see a confirmation screen; click on Continue Registration in order to confirm the information and move on to the next step. Then fill out the information about the contact person for your business, with name and phone number mandatory and all other fields optional, click on Submit, confirm the information about the contact person, and click on Continue Registration, on the same page. Confirm each screen before continuing: the reference sheet repeats the confirm-and-continue pattern at every screen, and moving on without checking the screen is how an address or contact error gets baked into the profile buyers see.
The commodities step is optional in the form and decisive in practice. In order to complete your account, add information about the goods and services your business provides by clicking on Add commodities, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. The page tips that this step is not mandatory but recommended, since it allows federal departments and agencies to find your business and what goods or services you offer, and that otherwise your business profile will not be visible to government buyers. Select the regions where you can provide your goods and services, click on Update, and move on to add your commodities.
You add commodities by GSIN (Goods and Services Identification Number) code, and PSPC expects the choice to be hard. The reference sheet tips that it may be difficult to determine exactly which GSIN code is the right one for your goods and services, and suggests noting the codes that are close to what you provide and searching for tender notices using those codes, to verify whether the tender notices you find actually correspond to what you provide, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. It gives moving services as the example of one requirement carrying several codes: V502A for relocation service, V401 for other transportation, travel and moving service, V for transportation, travel agency and moving services, and V0001BA for movers, office furniture and equipment and storage. There are three ways of finding commodity codes at this step on the page; use the search and the tender-notice check rather than guessing a single code. Click on Return to my Commodity List to view a summary list of your selections, and once you have added all GSIN codes corresponding to your goods and services, your account is officially activated and complete, on the same page.
The SAP Business Network registration is a separate profile, and PSPC publishes a preparation checklist rather than asking you to discover the fields as you go. PSPC has a suite of online procurement services called CanadaBuys, which includes the web-based tool called SAP Business Network, and the checklist exists to gather all the information needed to register a business in SAP Business Network to begin selling to PSPC, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network. Use the SAP Business Network registration page linked from that checklist when you are ready, since the checklist states to be sure to use that link because it gives access to all the fields needed to complete the Government of Canada profile. This guide states the information PSPC says to gather; it does not reproduce click-by-click screens for SAP Business Network, because the step-by-step registration guide PSPC points to from the checklist page is not covered here.
Gather four groups of information. First, basic company information to create a company profile that will allow you to view tender opportunities: your business legal name, the country where your business head office is located, and your head office address including street address, city, province or state, and postal code or ZIP code, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network. Next, decide who the main user of the account will be: that person's name, email address and phone number will be visible to Government of Canada buyers on the company profile, that person can choose to receive all account notifications, and other users can be added once the account is set up. The information needed for the main user is first and last name, email address, username, password, and an email address for notifications and orders if different from the main email address, on the same page.
Second, the general business questions for the Government of Canada questionnaire: general business information, selecting the industry that corresponds to your main business activity; type of business; names of current owners, directors, trustees or partners, along with the positions they hold; Indigenous Business Directory registration, if applicable; official documents related to environmental performance, if applicable, such as ISO standards; and a PDF copy of your Cyber Security Certification and expiry date for each level, if applicable, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network. Sections where you can choose to identify as a member of one or more equity-deserving groups in procurement are voluntary, on the same page. Answer the if-applicable items only where they apply to your business; do not attach documents you do not hold.
Third, financial information, which the checklist states you must enter to finalize registration: CRA Business Number; CRA ownership type (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, other); supplier type (Canadian, non-Canadian); country code if non-Canadian; and method of payment, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network. For a Canadian supplier the method is direct deposit, requiring bank name, bank address, name of account holder, Financial Institution Number, branch number, account number, and a copy of a voided cheque or confirmation letter from your bank. For a non-Canadian supplier the method is wire transfer, requiring the bank details, BIC/SWIFT code, bank sort code, account type, account number, bank control key, International Bank Account Number (IBAN), wire instructions, and a copy of a voided cheque or confirmation letter from the bank containing the wire banking information. The checklist states that the Government of Canada only accepts direct deposit for Canadian suppliers and only wire transfer for non-Canadian suppliers. Have the voided cheque or bank confirmation letter ready before you start; it is the one item that stalls an otherwise complete registration.
Fourth, the company profile, which you need to complete to view and bid on tender opportunities: product and service categories describing what your business sells, ship-to address and service locations, and number of employees, according to Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network. Only mandatory fields are required to complete the registration for the Government of Canada, on the same page. If you have questions during the process, the checklist states you can call, email, or chat with the CanadaBuys Service Desk, which Electronic procurement names as the designated service desk for the electronic procurement solution.
Registration is not a one-time filing. Regularly check that your SRI account information is up to date: outdated information can lead to missed opportunities, and even cancelled contracts in serious cases, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system. If you change your business legal name, the update has to be done in the CRA system first; once the change is done in the CRA system, send the request to make the same change in your SRI account to sac-pac@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca. If you are planning a legal name change during the course of an active contract, or while you are pre-qualified under a Standing Offer or Supply Arrangement, notify the contracting authority immediately, on the same page. Apply the same discipline to the SAP Business Network profile: if you are already registered, the electronic procurement page states to log in to verify your supplier details, and if you are already registered in SRI, to verify that the information is up to date, according to Electronic procurement. Check the profile after any change to the business name, address, contact person, main user, banking details, regions served, or goods and services offered, and before relying on it for any opportunity. For help understanding the federal procurement process or registering for a Procurement Business Number, the SRI reference sheet points to the national Procurement Assistance Canada email at sac-pac@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca and to procurement support including the Procura Chatbot (Beta), and the seminar notes give the same national email for Procurement Assistance Canada, according to Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system and Seminar notes: How the government buys what you sell.
No, not as the starting point. [Buyandsell.gc.ca is being decommissioned: Frequently asked questions](https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyandsell-decommissioning-faqs) states that Buyandsell.gc.ca is being replaced by CanadaBuys, a suite of procurement services launched by Public Services and Procurement Canada, and directs suppliers to visit CanadaBuys to get started, including how to register in the procurement tools. [Electronic procurement](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/electronic-procurement-transition.html) states the same current position: CanadaBuys is the official source for Government of Canada tender and award notices, and visiting CanadaBuys is how you register as a supplier, complete your business profile, and access the electronic procurement solution. This guide therefore follows the current PSPC pages on CanadaBuys and Canada.ca, and uses the name Buy and Sell only where the older registration system and its history need explaining. Do not build your plan around a Buy and Sell registration page: if a link or bookmark still points to buyandsell.gc.ca, follow it to CanadaBuys and re-check the registration instructions there.
It depends on the opportunities you will bid on, and PSPC presents the two as separate registrations. [Electronic procurement](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/electronic-procurement-transition.html) states that you register in SAP Ariba to view and respond to opportunities posted to the electronic procurement solution, and that you register in Supplier Registration Information (SRI) to obtain your Procurement Business Number, which is currently required for bids that are not processed through SAP Ariba. [Seminar notes: How the government buys what you sell](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/understand-procurement-process/how-government-buys.html) puts it the same way: register on the procurement platform or platforms that apply to your goods and services, completing your business profile in SAP Ariba and obtaining your Procurement Business Number through SRI. This guide covers both registrations and no other sourcing tool: registering in sourcing tools for professional services, including the Centralized Professional Services System e-Portal, is a separate route, and this guide gives no steps for it. If you are already registered in SRI, the electronic procurement page states to verify that your supplier registration information is up to date rather than registering again.
Use the Business Number (BN) associated with your Goods and Services Tax (GST) account issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), not a provincial BN, according to [Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/prepare-to-sell/register.html). The BN is made up of 9 digits. Your legal name is the name of your business exactly as registered with the CRA, and if you are self-employed, your legal name consists of your first and last name, on the same page. Enter it character for character: the reference sheet cautions that registration issues often arise from errors in entering the legal name, and that even an extra space leads to the registration being denied. If you are unsure of the legal name or head office address as registered with the CRA, [Use this checklist to prepare to register on SAP Business Network](https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/support/use-checklist-prepare-register-sap-business-network) states to verify them with the Government of Canada GST/HST Registry Search before you enter them. If you do not yet have a CRA Business Number, the SAP Business Network checklist states to visit the CRA website to learn how to get one; do not start the SRI steps with a provincial number or a guessed number, because validation checks the BN and legal name against CRA records.
Check the BN and legal name first. [Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/prepare-to-sell/register.html) states that after you submit the account details and confirm them, the CRA confirms the validity of your BN and legal name, and you receive an email from Procurement Assistance Canada with the subject line Validation of your SRI (Supplier Registration Information) Registration. There are two possible responses: validation failed, where you should carefully check your BN and legal name, since the majority of failed validation attempts by the CRA are due to an error in the information entered; or validation complete, where the email notes your Procurement Business Number and contains a link to access your account. Validation can take a few minutes. If you do not receive a confirmation email in two business days, or if you have difficulty validating your information, the same page states to contact the InfoLine at sac-pac@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca. Do not create a second account to work around a failed validation: fix the BN or legal name entry, and use the InfoLine if the corrected entry still does not validate.
The mandatory profile fields are stated screen by screen in [Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/prepare-to-sell/register.html). For the business itself: registrant name, phone number, email, type of ownership, country of ownership, business size, business sector, official language, and Aboriginal supplier. For the mailing address: address line 1, city, province, territory or state if in Canada or the United States, country, and postal or ZIP code. For the contact person: name and phone number are mandatory and all other fields are optional. After those screens, adding information about the goods and services your business provides by clicking Add commodities is not mandatory but is recommended, because it allows federal departments and agencies to find your business and what goods or services you offer; otherwise your business profile will not be visible to government buyers, on the same page. You then select the regions where you can provide your goods and services and add GSIN (Goods and Services Identification Number) codes for what you provide. The reference sheet warns that it may be difficult to determine exactly which GSIN code is right, and suggests noting the codes that are close to what you provide and searching tender notices with those codes to verify that the notices found correspond to what you provide.
No registration fee is stated on any PSPC page, and this guide makes no fee claim: check the registration pages linked in Sources before you start if cost matters to you, and see the unverified-figures paragraph at the end of this guide for what was deliberately left out. Registration also guarantees nothing. [Reference sheet: Registering in the Supplier Registration Information system](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/prepare-to-sell/register.html) states that by registering in SRI you make your company's name and supply capabilities widely known to federal departments and agencies, who may use the system to identify sources of supply; may is the operative word, and each opportunity still carries its own bidding and submission requirements, as [Seminar notes: How the government buys what you sell](https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/acquisitions/support-for-businesses/understand-procurement-process/how-government-buys.html) states. Keeping the profile current is part of registration, not an afterthought: the SRI reference sheet states to regularly check that your account information is up to date, because outdated information can lead to missed opportunities and, in serious cases, even cancelled contracts. If you change your business legal name, the update has to be done in the CRA system first, and once done there, send the request to make the same change in your SRI account to sac-pac@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca; if you are planning a legal name change during an active contract or while pre-qualified under a Standing Offer or Supply Arrangement, notify the contracting authority immediately, on the same page.
No figure in this guide was carried from a secondary source. The following were left out because they could not be verified on a PSPC or CanadaBuys page: any registration fee for SRI or SAP Business Network, since no fee is stated on the pages relied on here; any fixed timeline for full registration approval beyond the SRI validation email timing stated in the guide; any date for the Buyandsell.gc.ca decommissioning, since the FAQ states the replacement but gives no date; any estimate of how long SRI registration takes in total; any expiry or renewal period for an SRI registration or a Procurement Business Number; click-by-click screens for SAP Business Network registration, since only the preparation checklist is covered here; any count of departments, agencies or registered suppliers; and any steps for professional-services sourcing tools including the Centralized Professional Services System e-Portal, which are outside this guide's Buy and Sell registration scope. Check the PSPC and CanadaBuys pages linked above, or Procurement Assistance Canada at sac-pac@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca, before relying on any of those points.