Government of Canada opportunities, tracked by month and category
The three things you asked about: are we tracking published opportunities monthly, is the count of new opportunities at a record low, and how many are posted in each category — professional services above all. Five fiscal years, April 2022 to mid-May 2026.
Your questions, answered
1. Can we track published opportunities by month? Yes — every federal opportunity posted is counted and dated. Section 1 is the month-by-month chart, split by category.
2. Are new opportunities at a record low? Not overall — postings have held near 7,105 a year for four years, and professional services is steady at about 29% of them. The real soft spot is right now: this spring is running ~24% lighter than 2022–2024, and the fully-open "anyone can bid" RFPs are at a five-year low for this point in the year. Early in the fiscal year, so possibly timing — worth watching (Section 3).
3. How many in each category, especially professional services? Professional services runs about 2,044 postings a year, the largest service category. Tracked monthly and by discipline in Sections 1–2.
On your point about staying busy through standing offers
You're right that the posted count understates the real flow. The ~7,105 notices a year are only the visible tip — most of the government's roughly $6 billion a year in professional services never appears as a new posting. It moves as call-ups against standing offers and supply arrangements: you're already on the list, you're invited directly, no public notice. On top of that, about 25% of the notices that are posted are invite-only (Section 4). So a large share is invitation-based — which is why being on the right vehicles keeps you busy even when open postings feel quiet.
1. Opportunities posted each month, by category
Every federal opportunity posted, month by month, stacked by category — professional services in blue at the base.
This is the core tracker you asked for: how many notices in each category are posted each month, 2022-04 to 2026-05. The far-right dip is the in-progress month (May 2026 is only half-reported), not a real drop.
2. Professional services, on its own
About 2,044 professional-services postings a year, steady — led by it & software services and management.
Top: professional-services notices posted each month (2022-04–2026-05). Bottom: the same notices split into disciplines, per fiscal year. (Disciplines classified by AI from each notice's title and procurement code; FY2026-27 partial.)
3. Is the new-opportunity count at a record low?
Not overall — flat for four years. But this spring's open RFPs (285) are a five-year low for the window.
Left logic: total notices and professional services have barely moved year to year (left chart). The softness shows up only when you compare the same calendar window (April 1–May 15) across years — this spring is the lowest for open, anyone-can-bid RFPs in five years (right chart + table).
| April 1 – May 15 | All notices | Prof. services | Open RFPs | Invite-only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022-23 | 661 | 213 | 528 | 9 |
| FY2023-24 | 750 | 228 | 422 | 76 |
| FY2024-25 | 717 | 209 | 413 | 69 |
| FY2025-26 | 533 | 165 | 314 | 70 |
| FY2026-27 this year, so far | 537 | 181 | 285 | 76 |
4. "Often only one bid" — how much is sole-source or invite-only?
About 5% of postings are sole-source (353/yr) and 25% are invite-only — so roughly 30% are not fully open competition.
You noted that much of the $6B in professional services effectively gets one bid. Among notices that are posted: "sole-source" (ACAN) means the government already names one supplier; "invite-only" restricts bidding to standing-offer / pre-qualified suppliers. The split has been stable for four years.
How to read this. Numbers count opportunities posted publicly — the federal open-tender universe across 412 contracting departments and agencies. They do not include standing-offer call-ups or contract dollars, which is why the totals look small next to headline spending figures. FY2026-27 is partial (April + about half of May 2026). One caution on history: the CanadaBuys system changed in 2023, so FY2022-23's "invite-only" count is understated and isn't a clean comparison — trust the trend from FY2023-24 onward. Source: CanadaBuys open tender notices; professional-services categories classified with Google Gemini. Detailed spreadsheets accompany this report.