New Government Acquisition Center Not as Effective as Expected

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “The CAG is failing to carry out a significant portion of the purchasing groups planned in its planning,” notes Guylaine Leclerc.

The organization created by the government to consolidate its purchases, achieve economies of scale and purchase as much Quebec content as possible is experiencing failures, according to the latest report by Quebec Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc.

The report notes “numerous delays” and “cancellations” at the Government Acquisitions Centre (CAG). These problems limit the savings supposed to result from grouped purchases.

Ministries and public bodies are required to go through the CAG for certain purchases, ranging from printer paper to medical supplies. The CAG was created in 2019, when Christian Dubé was President of the Treasury Board, to replace the former Shared Services Centre and four other organizations.

Last year, contracts worth $5.8 billion passed through the organization.

“However, the CAG is unable to carry out a significant portion of the purchasing groups planned in its planning,” notes Guylaine Leclerc.

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Downturn in activity

The numerous delays and cancellations also force the CAG “to award contracts by mutual agreement to avoid service interruptions,” and it “also happens that it is customers who must purchase the goods and services concerned themselves.”

The AG also questions the savings the organization says it made in 2022-2023, namely $407.9 million. “This evaluation has several limitations,” she writes.

First of all, the value of purchases made by the CAG decreased by 26% between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

The auditor also criticizes the organization for not doing everything possible to promote local purchasing and products with a low environmental footprint.

This is because the CAG too often uses traditional types of calls for tenders, she explains. Conversely, more modern ways of doing things would allow it to give greater weight to the criteria of quality, Quebec content and sustainable development.

The CAG has been led since its creation by Pierre Julien. The minister responsible for the file is Sonia LeBel, President of the Treasury Board.

Teleworking, a missed opportunity

In her report, Guylaine Leclerc also looked at the management of government buildings. Because of teleworking, the government has the opportunity to make significant savings by renovating its offices to merge or reorganize them.

However, the Auditor General notes that little progress has been made in this area and that the government is depriving itself of “substantial” savings.

For example, the construction site planned for Complexe G in Quebec City would reduce its space by 53%. It would cost $123.2 million to complete, but would generate annual savings of $20.9 million per year.

In addition, the deadlines for renewing leases for rented buildings are approaching. Therefore, “if the buildings owned and some with long-term leases are not ready on time, the [Société québécoise des infrastructures] will be forced to renew a large number of leases that are about to expire.”

The government owns 66 government buildings and leases 162 others. Together, they total 1.7 million square metres.

The Société québécoise des infrastructures, which is responsible for this file, is chaired by Caroline Bourgeois and reports to Minister Jonatan Julien.