Read the evaluation grid the way an evaluator does
Mandatory requirements, rated criteria, and weightings tell you how to build a response. Let them set the structure before you write.
An evaluator does not read your bid from front to back the way a client reads a brochure. They read it with the evaluation grid open beside it, one criterion at a time, looking for the evidence that earns the points.
If you want to score well, read the grid the same way before you write anything.
Evaluators score what the grid asks for
Public buyers are bound to the criteria they publish. Federal guidance on CanadaBuys states that evaluations should not be influenced by criteria or factors not specified in the solicitation. In British Columbia, the Province describes the same practice: submissions are evaluated against the criteria set out in the solicitation documents.
That rule cuts both ways. The evaluator cannot penalize you for something the grid does not mention. Nor can they reward you for it. A well-written section on your firm’s history earns nothing if no criterion asks for it, and it uses pages you could have spent on the criteria that do.
On federal work, the technical evaluation is the responsibility of the client department, and each evaluator signs the evaluation report. These are careful readers working to a record. Make their job easy and your score is more likely to reflect what you can actually do.
Start with what can disqualify you
Mandatory requirements come first because they are pass or fail. CanadaBuys guidance is direct: offers that fail to meet any of the mandatory criteria are considered non-responsive, and only offers meeting all mandatory criteria go on to point rating.
Before any drafting, build a compliance matrix. List every mandatory requirement in the order it appears, quote its exact wording, and note where in your response you meet it and with what evidence. Include the requirements buried in the instructions to bidders: forms, signatures, page limits, file formats, and submission deadlines. A response that scores well on every rated criterion is worth nothing if it fails a mandatory on page three.
Treat the points as a budget
The solicitation must state the maximum points for each rated criterion, and any minimum thresholds needed to be considered compliant. Those numbers are the buyer telling you what matters most.
Read them as a budget for your effort. A criterion worth a large share of the total deserves your strongest evidence, your most senior reviewer, and a proportionate share of the page count. A criterion worth very little should be answered fully and briefly.
Then look for thresholds. CanadaBuys notes that offers must often meet a minimum overall score and also receive minimum points for specific criteria. A criterion with its own threshold can end your bid even if it carries modest weight. Find those criteria early, and make sure your answer to each one clears the bar with room to spare.
A criterion with its own threshold can end your bid even if it carries modest weight.
Mirror the grid in your structure
The simplest way to help an evaluator is to give them the grid back. Use the same numbering. Use each criterion’s wording, or a close version of it, as your heading. Answer the criteria in the order they appear.
Within each answer, address every element the criterion names, in the same sequence. Rated criteria often bundle several requirements into one paragraph. Say a criterion asks for a description of the proposed approach, the risks you foresee, and how you will manage them. An answer that covers approach and risk in depth but leaves mitigation implicit has given the evaluator a reason to hold back points. Short sub-headings for each element remove that doubt.
Where the same evidence supports more than one criterion, restate it briefly in each place rather than pointing the evaluator elsewhere. Each criterion is scored on its own. Do not rely on an evaluator to carry a fact from one section to another.
Match the evidence to the verbs
The verbs in a rated criterion tell you what kind of answer will score. “List” asks for a list. “Describe” asks for an account. “Demonstrate” asks for proof: a named project, its scope, your role, the dates, and the result. CanadaBuys guidance asks buyers to set out in the solicitation how criteria such as knowledge and experience will be assessed. Read that part closely, because it describes the evidence the evaluator has been told to look for.
Respect the qualifiers too. If a criterion asks for projects completed within a stated period, or above a stated value, check every example against those limits before you include it. An example that falls outside them may earn nothing, and it takes the place of one that would have scored.
Know how price and merit combine
Read the basis of selection before you settle the technical approach. Federal buyers use methods such as the lowest evaluated price with mandatory technical criteria, the highest combined rating of technical merit and price, and the highest rated within budget. Each changes the calculation. Where price is decisive, an elaborate technical approach may add cost without adding points. Where technical merit carries most of the weight, a thin response priced low is unlikely to recover.
Follow the instructions on where price belongs. If the solicitation asks for a separate financial offer, keep pricing out of the technical response.
Ask about anything ambiguous
If you cannot tell how a criterion will be scored, ask the contracting authority before the deadline for questions. CanadaBuys advises suppliers to do exactly this for questions about point rating. A clear answer before closing is worth more than a careful guess.
Score yourself before you submit
Before submission, give the response and the grid to someone who did not write it. Ask them to score each criterion strictly, using only what is on the page. Where they hesitate, an evaluator will too. Fix those sections first.
Sources
- “Evaluation process”, Buyer’s Guide, CanadaBuys, Government of Canada. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyer-s-portal/buyer-s-guide/receive-and-evaluate/offer-evaluation/evaluation-process
- “Conduct a technical evaluation”, Buyer’s Guide, CanadaBuys, Government of Canada. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyer-s-portal/buyer-s-guide/receive-and-evaluate/offer-evaluation/conduct-technical-evaluation
- “Specifying evaluation criteria”, Buyer’s Guide, CanadaBuys, Government of Canada. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyer-s-portal/buyer-s-guide/plan/method-selection/specifying-evaluation-criteria
- “Including basis of selection”, Buyer’s Guide, CanadaBuys, Government of Canada. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyer-s-portal/buyer-s-guide/plan/method-selection/including-basis-selection
- “How bids are evaluated and selected”, CanadaBuys, Government of Canada. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/getting-started/preparing-sell-government/how-bids-evaluated-and-selected
- “Government procurement processes”, Province of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/bc-procurement-resources/sell-to-government/government-procurement-processes
