The Government of Saskatchewan has implemented a new process for procuring products and services of United States (U.S.) origin. Exceptions to procure products and services of U.S. origin requires approval by the ministry’s permanent head or their designate. This applies to all procurements, regardless of whether they are over or under trade agreement thresholds. Our goal is to identify ways to reduce or replace the amount of U.S. products and services with Canadian and non-U.S. products and services.
Please note that the routing and approval process for procurements and contracts are unchanged. This is an additional mandatory approval with a different routing process as outlined below.
The Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement (SBP) has developed definitions for the following terms:
Canadian business:
- Fully Canadian headquartered, majority owned and operated; or
- If international headquarters, then have 50 or more employees (FTEs) in Canada; or
- If international headquarters but fewer than 50 total international employees, then have 51 per cent of global workforce in Canada.
U.S. business:
-
Is not a Canadian business as defined above and is headquartered in the U.S.
U.S. product:
- Any product, material or supply that is Made in USA or Product of USA; and
- Was not physically in Canada as of March 5, 2025.
U.S. service:
- Provided by a natural person in the U.S.
Effective March 5, 2025, all employees seeking to procure or award a contract that includes any U.S. Products or Services or supplied by a U.S. company must:
- Complete the U.S. Procurement Exception Form – This form requires details on the procurement, justification for selecting a U.S. supplier, and confirmation that a Canadian or non-U.S. alternative was considered and was not deemed a viable alternative.
- Provide Supporting Documentation – Submissions may include price quotes, product specifications, or other evidence that demonstrates the need for U.S. origin goods.
- Obtain Required Approvals – All exception requests must be approved by the purchasing ministry’s Permanent Head or designate. Procurement exemption requests must be approved before proceeding with any purchase or contract award containing U.S. products and/or services.
- Approval of procurement and contracts without U.S content falls under your ministry’s existing delegated signing authority.
- Procurements with U.S. content must be approved by the permanent head of the ministry or their designate. This applies to both over and under threshold procurements. Permanent heads may choose to escalate or delegate exception approvals within their organization at their discretion.
- Exceptions on major infrastructure procurements must be approved by the Deputy Minister of SaskBuilds and Procurement and, if approved, will be shared with the requestor’s deputy minister.
- In the case of an emergency procurement, please contact the Procurement Management Division at purchasing@gov.sk.ca to request approval from the Chief Procurement Officer.
- Approved forms should be returned to Procurement Management Division if facilitating the procurement, or retained with the procurement documentation, if completed within your own Ministry.
Exception Criteria
Rationale for exceptions to make US purchases should include:
- Efforts to source in Canada or outside of the US;
- Urgency of the required supply or service;
- Quality and cost comparison to other options; and/or
- Any other risks of not making the purchase.
Exceptions should only be granted in cases where strong rationale exists to purchase from a U.S. supplier.
Requests for standing exceptions for commonly procured items should provide justification on the Exception Form and retain copies for future reference.
Emergency purchases must still be documented, with a post-purchase exception request form submitted within 10 business days.
Proof of exception approval may be requested. Non-compliance with this process may result in procurement delays, rejection of purchase requests, or revocation of an employee’s authority to make purchases.
We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring adherence to this process. If you have any questions or require clarification, please contact the Procurement Management Division of the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement at purchasing@gov.sk.ca.