Nova Scotia Signs New Atlantic Procurement Agreement

An enhanced Atlantic Procurement Agreement will allow more opportunities for businesses across the Atlantic region to share in the billions of dollars provincial governments spend annually on goods and services.

Signed today, Jan. 18, by Premier Rodney MacDonald and his Atlantic counterparts in Sackville, New Brunswick, the enhanced agreement promotes productivity, quality development and standardization of public procurement in Atlantic Canada.

"This agreement is going to open doors for many Nova Scotia companies close to home," said Premier MacDonald. "Taxpayers will also benefit from added competition for government purchases and companies will benefit by having easier access to neighboring markets."

The new agreement ensures greater access to provincial government purchasing by lowering interprovincial trade barriers and removing all forms of discrimination between the four provinces.

It also lowers the overall tendering thresholds for provincial government purchasing in Atlantic Canada for goods and services from $25,000 to $10,000, which will open new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Any step that the four Atlantic provinces take to simplify things, level the playing field and increase competition, is a step in the right direction," said Leanne Hachey, Atlantic vice- president, Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Along with the signing of this agreement, the provinces will begin consultations with municipalities to bring them under the agreement by June 2009. The municipalities will join the academic institutions, school boards and health authorities in all four provinces, which currently fall under the agreement.