Lévis, August 21, 2026 — The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Charles Milliard, accompanied by Michel Leblanc, candidate in Marguerite-Bourgeois; Julie White, candidate in Jean-Talon; Brittany Blais, candidate in Lévis, and Frédéric Beauchemin, candidate in Brome-Missisquoi, today unveiled four commitments aimed at overhauling the way the Quebec government procures goods and services, in order to provide local businesses with meaningful access to public procurement markets.
Every year, the Government of Quebec awards thousands of contracts. In 2024, according to the Treasury Board, more than 32,000 contracts were awarded, totaling nearly 32 billion dollars. Yet too many Quebec businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), remain excluded. The Quebec Liberal Party proposes to change the rules of the game.
“Amid upheavals involving our neighbors and global economic changes, becoming a better customer for our small and medium-sized businesses—which make up 99 percent of our economy—is a concrete way to support them,” said Charles Milliard.
Commitment 1: Further open up public procurement to businesses that create value here
The 15% preferential margin will be applied across the board in public solicitations—where applicable rules permit—for ministries, agencies, and state-owned enterprises.
The goal is to provide a real advantage to value created in Quebec and to more clearly distinguish between a company that actually manufactures here and one that imports a product manufactured elsewhere for distribution.
These two situations are not the same: a company that manufactures here also builds expertise here—a value that the government must better recognize. In a context where our trading partners are also using their public procurement systems to support their companies, Quebec must be able to do business with its own.
Commitment 2: Buy Better, Not Just Cheaper
The current approach has been dominated for too long by the tendency to automatically select the lowest-cost compliant bidder. Price matters, but quality, durability, performance, and innovation matter too, and should carry greater weight in public procurement decisions.
Companies will be able to propose their own innovative solutions, with the government simply describing the problem to be solved rather than imposing a ready-made solution—a way of placing trust in the talent that already exists in the field and giving Quebec innovations a real chance to succeed.
The “lowest compliant bidder” principle will be abolished to prioritize awarding contracts to Quebec companies and to promote innovation.
Commitment 3: Make the government a simpler, faster, and more reliable client
Doing business with the government shouldn’t be a bureaucratic endurance test. Forms will be simplified, administrative procedures digitized, response times to bidders reduced, and businesses will have more flexibility to present their solutions. An SME owner should devote their energy to developing products, finding new customers, and hiring, rather than spending time on government paperwork.
Another key aspect is prompt payment. A business must continue to pay salaries, pay its suppliers, finance its inventory, and invest in its next contract; it should not have to increase its line of credit because the government is slow to pay it. We are committed to reducing the payment period to 30 days. A genuine framework for prompt payment will be put in place for all businesses that do business with the government, because if we ask small and medium-sized enterprises to be good suppliers, the government must first be a good customer.
Commitment 4: Ensure that the government is the first to give innovative companies a chance
This may be the most significant cultural shift. Quebec excels at generating ideas: it is home to entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers, research centers, and companies capable of developing remarkable solutions.
Yet all too often, a company builds a promising prototype, only to hit a wall when trying to land its first major client. To win a major contract, you need experience. But to gain that experience, you first have to win a major contract. It’s a vicious cycle.
When a Quebec-based solution is sound, meets a real need, and offers value, the government must be able to give it its first real opportunity. The government must not only help businesses get started; it must also enable them to grow.
This same logic must be applied in regions, schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and public institutions, with more partnerships between regional agri-food businesses and the public institutions around them—thereby bringing producers and buyers closer together and enabling small and medium-sized businesses to grow stronger locally before seeking markets elsewhere.
“It is by bringing together the government, entrepreneurs, workers, the regions, and our institutions that we want to rebuild Quebec. An alliance where everyone does their part, where decisions are made closer to the ground, and where the government helps open doors for local businesses. Our small and medium-sized businesses are here to create jobs, breathe life into our municipalities, and support our communities. They’re there when it’s time to invest, innovate, and take risks. Today, it’s our turn to build for them—to open up markets for them. To remove obstacles for them. To give them a chance to grow here and succeed everywhere. Because when our small and medium-sized businesses go further, all of Quebec goes further with them,” said Charles Milliard.
