Canada’s federal procurement watchdog has ordered the government to rewrite and relaunch a 100-million Canadian dollar ($70.9 million) night vision program after ruling that last-minute technical changes unfairly steered the contract toward a single US supplier.
The decision comes after a mid-November ruling from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT), which validated a complaint in the case filed by Quebec-based Cadex Inc. and supported by French optics firm Photonis.
The tribunal found that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) did not provide a “sufficiently transparent or intelligible justification” for raising the required signal-to-noise ratio, essentially a measure of image clarity, on the equipment’s intensifier tubes.
The companies argued the new threshold shut out European-made tubes and left only American versions eligible.
This shift would also place key parts under US export controls and give Washington the authority to decide when the components could be shipped to Canada, industry officials told the Ottawa Citizen.
Photonis tubes are widely used across NATO, including in Germany, Belgium, the UK, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, and Poland, as well as in France and Australia. European tubes carry no export restrictions, unlike American-built versions.
Tender Revision, Associated Terms
In its notice, the CITT specified that the restrictive criteria in solicitation WS4843480208 breached fair competition rules under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
The agency recommended PSPC reissue the tender for the planned three-year contract, which could run up to 12 years with options and was expected to cover as many as 17,000 binocular night vision devices.
The tribunal also ordered PSPC to pay Cadex 2,750 Canadian dollars ($1,952) in costs.
A PSPC spokesperson said the department is reviewing the ruling.
The move comes amid frustration in Canada’s defense sector that recent procurements contradict Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call to reduce reliance on US suppliers and diversify toward Canadian and European firms.
Military officials have continued to push for deeper American integration despite that guidance.
