Public Services and Procurement Canada signed eight sole-source contracts with one contractor
Three of the contracts with Ottawa-area contractor Bryan Osborne were for exactly $39,550 and a fourth was for $38,985, all just under the $40,000 line above which most federal contracts must go to bid.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the federal purchasing department, signed eight contracts recorded as sole-sourced with one Ottawa-area contractor, Bryan Osborne, between April 13 and June 24, 2026, according to the federal proactive disclosure of contracts. The eight contracts total $234,230.69. A ninth record, dated July 7 and also $39,550, is labelled a restatement of an earlier contract.
Three of the contracts are for exactly $39,550: one dated April 14 for “patching, painting, mold removal, and other related works at NDMC Building,” one dated May 15 for “patching & painting,” and one dated June 24 for “various repairs as per job showing.” A fourth, dated April 17 for “painting in offices (multiple) at CFS Leitrim,” is $38,985.
The Government Contracts Regulations let a department skip soliciting bids for most contracts when the estimated expenditure “does not exceed” $40,000. All four sit within $1,015 of the $40,000 line. $39,550 is $35,000 plus 13 per cent HST (harmonized sales tax); the records do not say why that price was set.
The other four: $24,999.89 for mould remediation and wall repairs, amended up from $9,999.94; $22,600 for repair and painting at a site listed only as CRPTC; $13,673 to sand and paint outdoor tables and benches and paint a yellow line; and $15,322.80 to build a gazebo. Two NDMC records carry an Indigenous business “voluntary set-aside” flag; the records do not say how that affected the decision not to hold a competition for the contracts.
PSPC guidance for supply arrangement assessors says a contracting authority “must not issue either multiple contracts or amendments to contracts against a single requirement or back-to-back contracts to the same supplier in order to avoid obtaining the approval required by statute, the Treasury Board (TB) Contracts Directive, or appropriate management approval.”
The Procurement Ombudsman and the Auditor General have both raised concerns in the past about “contract splitting” by the federal government to get around procurement rules.
Josh Phelps
Josh Phelps is a member of the Rebel News research team, working behind the scenes to investigate stories, verify facts, and support our journalists in bringing important news to light.
