Too Small to Bid Alone? Here's How to Team Up and Win

Two Ways to Team Up

Subcontracting is the simplest version. Another company (the prime contractor) wins the contract and signs directly with the government. You sign a separate contract with the prime to deliver a piece of the work. You never have a direct relationship with the buyer; you get paid by the prime, not by the government.

A teaming agreement is what makes subcontracting real before you've won anything. It's a signed document, agreed before the bid goes in, spelling out who does what, roughly how the work and payment split, and that both sides will negotiate a real subcontract in good faith if the bid wins.

A joint venture is a bigger step: two or more companies bid together as a combined entity, sharing both the risk and the win directly with the government instead of through a prime-sub relationship. It's more paperwork and more shared liability, and it's usually only worth it when a specific program requires it, such as some Indigenous procurement set-asides that require a joint venture structure with a qualifying Indigenous business. For a first team-up, start with a teaming agreement. Save the joint venture for when the rules actually call for one.

Why Would a Bigger Company Want You?

A prime doesn't take on a subcontractor out of charity. They need something they can't easily do themselves: a specific technical skill, a certification or clearance they don't hold, a local presence in a region the contract covers, or simply enough hands to deliver on time. Canadian content requirements can matter here too, since work performed by a Canadian subcontractor can count toward a bid's Canadian content, depending on how the solicitation defines it.

This means the businesses that get picked as partners are specialists, not generalists. Before you approach a prime, know the one or two things you're genuinely strong at, and lead with that. "We can do a bit of everything" doesn't get remembered. "We're the only shop in this region certified for X" does.

Find Partners Before You Need One

The worst time to look for a teaming partner is after a solicitation has already dropped and the clock is running. Build the relationship first.

Go to industry days and bidder conferences for buyers in your sector; primes attend these looking for exactly this kind of partner. Look up who actually wins contracts in your category and reach out to them directly, rather than waiting to be found. [Awardly's Market Intelligence](https://awardly.ca) tools let you browse award history by buyer, winner, and value, which is a fast way to see which primes are active in your space before you ever need to cold-email one. Keep a one-page capability statement ready so you can hand it over the moment someone asks what you do.

Put It in Writing Before You Bid

A verbal "we're in" from a partner is worth nothing once contract money is on the table. Before you submit a joint bid, get a signed teaming agreement that covers three things plainly: what share of the work each side performs, what you'll be paid and roughly when, and what happens if the bid loses or the scope changes after award.

There's also a formal reason to have this locked down early. Once a contract is signed, a prime generally needs the government's permission before subcontracting any of the work, and has to bind each subcontractor in writing to the same terms the prime agreed to. Sorting out roles and paperwork after you've already won is a scramble you can avoid by doing it before you bid.

Keeping partner capabilities, certifications, and signed agreements organized in one place is exactly the kind of thing that gets lost in email threads at a growing firm. [Awardly's Teaming Partners](https://awardly.ca) tools store that information so it's ready the moment a new opportunity fits.

The Honest Tradeoffs

As a subcontractor, you don't build a direct track record with the government the way a prime does; the contract goes on the prime's history, not yours, which matters if you're trying to build past-performance evidence for future bids. You're also paid by the prime, so a slow-paying prime becomes your cash-flow problem, not the government's.

As a prime bringing on subs, you own the risk for work you didn't personally do. If a subcontractor delivers late or badly, that's your problem with the client, not theirs. You're also required to check that a subcontractor isn't currently suspended or ineligible to do business with the government before signing them on; bringing on an ineligible subcontractor can put your own eligibility at risk, not just theirs.

Does subcontracted work count toward my Canadian content? Usually yes, if the subcontractor is genuinely Canadian and the solicitation's certification rules are met, but always confirm the specific definition in that solicitation rather than assuming. Do I need a lawyer for a simple teaming agreement? Not always, but at minimum have a clear written template reviewed once by someone who's seen a few, so it's ready to reuse instead of drafted from scratch under deadline pressure.

Sources & Further Reading

CanadaBuys, "Subcontracting": https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyer-s-portal/buyer-s-guide/manage/manage-contract/subcontracting

Public Services and Procurement Canada, "Application of the Ineligibility and Suspension Policy to subcontractors": https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/services/standards-oversight/supplier-integrity-compliance/supplier-guidance/application-subcontractor.html

McMillan LLP, "For Better or Worse? Canada Updates Procurement Integrity Regime": https://mcmillan.ca/insights/for-better-or-worse-canada-updates-procurement-integrity-regime/

CanadaBuys, Canadian content policy pages on application and certification requirements: https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/buyer-s-portal/legislation-and-policies/socioeconomics/canadian-content-policy/application

Program terms and specific eligibility rules change over time. Confirm the current requirements for your solicitation and jurisdiction before you rely on any of this.