Under the Agreement, these governments have agreed to apply the principles of non-discrimination, transparency, openness and accessibility with respect to their procurement opportunities and those of their municipalities and municipal organizations, school boards and publicly funded academic, health and social services entities.
Currently, the thresholds require that all institutions in the MASH sector (Municipal/Academic/Social Services/Healthcare) tender for public bidding contracts worth $100,000 or more, or in the case of construction, $250,000 or more.
The agreement mandates the "equal" treatment of people, goods and services anywhere in Canada.
That means businesses in any province or territory are to be considered for procurement bids, eliminating "buy local" policies.
Its ultimate goal is to eliminate barriers to trade, investments and product mobility.