Have you ever wondered why two or more suppliers have submitted identical bids on one or more of your tenders?

Are you curious as to why a particular supplier always submits the highest bid on your projects and the lowest one on someone else's projects?

Have you ever wondered why some of your tenders are bid at amounts much higher than the cost you estimated?

Have you ever questioned why some likely suppliers bid on some projects and not on others?

Are you aware of discussions among your suppliers about pricing or who should win a particular contract?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may be the victim of bid-rigging, which is a criminal offence under the Competition Act.

Bid-rigging is an agreement where, in response to a call or request for bids or tenders, one or more bidders agree not to submit a bid, or two or more bidders agree to submit bids or to withdraw bids that have been prearranged among themselves.

Bid-rigging is a serious crime that eliminates competition among your suppliers, increasing your costs and harming your ability to compete. Whether this occurs on government projects or in the private sector, these increased costs are ultimately passed on to the public.

Bid-rigging is a criminal offence under Canada's Competition Act. Firms and individuals convicted of bid-rigging face fines at the discretion of the court or imprisonment for up to fourteen years.

The offence of bid-rigging is committed only if the parties to the agreement do not make the agreement known to the person requesting the bids or tenders before such bids or tenders are made.

While bid-rigging schemes are limited only by the imagination of those involved, there are four common types of agreements that result in a pre-selected supplier winning the contract.

• Cover bidding gives the impression of competitive bidding but, in reality, suppliers agree to submit token bids that are usually too high.
• Bid suppression is an agreement among suppliers either to abstain from bidding or to withdraw bids.
• Bid rotation is a process whereby the preselected supplier submits the lowest bid on a systematic or rotating basis.
• Market division is an agreement among suppliers not to compete in designated geographic regions or for specific customers.

If you suspect you're a victim of bid-rigging or have information about a bid-rigging scheme, contact the Competition Bureau.

The Bureau conducts its investigations in private and keeps confidential the identity of the source and the information provided. However, if someone has important evidence about an offence under the Competition Act, that person may be asked to testify in court.

If you bring information to the Bureau at an early stage, the Director of Public Prosecutions, upon the recommendation of the Bureau, may grant you and your company an immunity from future prosecution. Further information on our Immunity Program may be found on our Web site.

The Bureau has developed a document called "Certificate of Independent Bid Determination" for use by persons calling for bids, tenders or quotations. The certificate can deter bid-rigging by requiring bidders to disclose to the person calling for the bids all material facts about any communications and arrangements they have entered into with competitors regarding the tender call. For further information about the certificate, contact the Competition Bureau.

For further details, refer to our Online Bid-rigging Prevention Module.

Bureau staff investigate a matter through confidential interviews and a review of records, documents and other sources of information.

If it appears that the law has been broken, the Bureau can apply to the courts to obtain search warrants or use other compulsory means to continue the investigation.

Once enough evidence has been obtained, the Bureau refers the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Director of Public Prosecutions then decides whether to prosecute in the criminal courts.