Webinar Questions & Answers

merx@merx.com www.merx.com 1-800-964-MERX (6379)

Q: What is the impact of the decision by the Government of Ontario to transition to a new service provider? A: The change only affects opportunities posted by the Ontario Ministry of Government services and has no bearing on systems used by provincial agencies or the broader public sector in Ontario. MERX will also continue to post notices for the Government of Ontario and direct you to the documents. MERX is the largest gateway for suppliers to access thousands of opportunities in Ontario and across Canada. Q: What is the difference between the Agencies, Crown and Private Corporations (ACPC) Service and the Private Construction Service? A: MERX for Agencies, Crown and Private corporations posts tender documents from many agencies, private and Crown corporations for goods and services as well as construction related projects. MERX Private Construction, offered in association with McGraw-Hill, provides project information on Canadian construction projects at various stages of development. Find out more at www.merx.com/PrivateConstruction and www.merx.com/ACPC Q: Is there a separate cost for the Private Construction Service? A: Yes, there is a separate pricing structure for the Private Construction service. Please see our pricing page for more information. Q: What is MASH? A: M.A.S.H. is the acronym for all organizations within the Municipal, Academic, School and Hospital sectors. The MASH Sector is also referred to as the Broader Public Sector. Q: Where can I see the Vendor of Record opportunities from the Ontario Government? A: All Standing Offers, Supplier Arrangements and VORs for the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario are listed on MERX. To locate these opportunities, simply choose the appropriate option from the ‘Popular Searches’ drop down menu in the search bar. Q: What is an ACAN? A: ACAN is the acronym for Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN). For more information on ACAN’s please visit www.buyandsell.gc.ca Q: Do you have a support line for future questions that may arise? A: Yes, please feel free to call MERX Customer Support and speak with one of our experts if you have any questions @ 1-800-964-MERX (6379) or via email at merx@merx.com. Q: What is the difference between the Canadian Public service and the Agencies, Crown and Private Corporations service? Is there a cost? A: MERX Canadian Public Tenders is for the use by governments and the MASH sector (see above). MERX for Agencies, Crown and Private Corporations is used by agencies, private and Crown corporations as well as not-for-profit organizations. For information on our pricing structure, click here. Q: What is the U.S. Tenders service? A: MERX U.S. Tenders is a valuable addition to the overall MERX product offering. It is for Canadian businesses who want to expand their revenue base by tapping into the multi-billion dollar market of Federal, State, and Local opportunities posted in the United States. Access directly at www.merx.com/USTenders Q: Is there a separate cost for U.S. Tenders? A: Yes, there is a separate pricing structure for U.S. Tenders. Please see our pricing page for more information.

Webinar Questions & Answers

merx@merx.com www.merx.com 1-800-964-MERX (6379)

Q: Is the $25 fee for MERX for Agencies, Crown and Private Corporations service in addition to the monthly Public Tenders subscription fee? A: Yes. Please see our pricing page for more information. Q: Do you provide alerts when there is a new opportunity posted on the MERX website? A: Yes, you can opt-in for this type of notification by creating an Opportunity Matching Profile. Once you have created this profile, an email will be sent to you daily as new tenders matching your specified criteria are posted. Please make sure to have a valid email address in your MERX Account Profile. Watch the tutorial for additional assistance on how to set this up. www.merx.com/tutorials Q: What are the benefits of additional Opportunity matching profiles when in one profile you can have multiple key words? A: Consider additional profiles if your business offers different products or services. You will likely want separate search criteria for each line of business. You should also consider additional profiles if you want to track tenders only published in English or French Q: Can you edit your Opportunity Matching search profile anytime? A: Yes, you can login to your MERX profile at any time and change your search criteria. In fact, we suggest that you do this occasionally and use the test feature to make sure not to miss any opportunities. Q: Do I have to be a monthly subscriber to get Opportunity Matching and are there any service fees? A: With every subscription to MERX, 1 Opportunity Matching profile is included. You are able to create up to a maximum of 9 Opportunity Matching profiles. The fees are as follows:

• 1 Opportunity Matching profile (free) • Up to 3 Opportunity Matching profiles ($1.95/month) • Up to 9 Opportunity Matching profiles ($2.95/month)

Q: If I call the 1-800-964-MERX, will they be able to help me with my keywords? A: Our Customer Service experts can help guide you on how to structure your searches; however, they are not experts in your industry and as such cannot provide you with the exact words to search with. Q: Can you register 2 people from the same organization in MERX? A: Yes, you can have multiple people within an organization registered to MERX. A MERX account is created for each individual user and uses a combination of first and last name as the username. Q: Can we use more than one email on a MERX account? A: No, only one email address is allowed per account. An alternative option could be to create another user for this person on MERX or you could create a generic inbox within your company that everyone could monitor and change the email address in the profile to that. i.e.: info@merx.com Q: Can we download archive Tenders from your website? A: No, this is not possible. If you have previously ordered the tender documents for a closed opportunity, you may still access the documents from your account activity. However, Drawings and Specification Packages (DSPs) are not available after closing. You may also view the abstracts of all tenders formerly posted on MERX Public Tenders. To do so, select the Former Opportunities option from the menu situated beside the search bar.

Webinar Questions & Answers

merx@merx.com www.merx.com 1-800-964-MERX (6379)

Q: While searching, if I select QC and ON, are Quebec and Ontario offers shown automatically or must I check all locations having QC and ON? A: It is a good idea to select all choices that indicate the location in question to ensure that no opportunities are missed or excluded from your search. Q: Do you have samples of proposal responses? A: No, all tender responses are different and tailored by the Buyer’s requirements. It will be clearly outlined in the tender documents how the Buyer would like submissions formatted. Please make sure to follow the buyers’ instructions. If you want some guidance on responding to RFPs, consider this site www.rfpmentor.com. Q: If you are a consulting firm with 1 individual, can you submit a proposal? A: Yes, the tender will be awarded to the organization/consultant who presents the best offer regardless of the size or the organization/firm. Q: Does previewing the document give you all the same information as ordering it? A: Previewing the document or seeing the abstract will not have your organization added to the official list of document takers eligible to bid. Ordering the document will give you all the details you will need to successfully bid on the opportunity. Q: Are documents always available in English and French? A: Each Contracting Authority is responsible for selecting the language in which the tender documents are published on MERX Canadian Public Tenders. Q: What is the fee for EBS (Electronic Bid Submission)? A: You will be charged a value-added service fee per opportunity for open tenders when you use MERX Electronic Bid Submission. Please see the pricing page for more information. Access the EBS guide | Watch tutorial Q: How do we know which buyers use the EBS option? A: Please pay special attention to the ‘E-bid Submission’ field that appears in each opportunity abstract if the buyer will accept E-bid submissions for that particular opportunity. The E-bid Submission field will show one of the following values:

• Mandatory: The buyer will only accept E-bid submissions • Optional: The buyer will accept E-bid submissions, but other methods are acceptable

Q: Where can I find awarded contracts? A: You can view past awarded contract in the “Awards Database” (Pull down menu next to the search field). Data regarding past contracts are kept for seven years. Please note it is not mandatory for Buying Organizations to post award notices. Q: Will you be notified by email if you are awarded a contract? A: No, MERX is not responsible for the notification of awarded contracts. Please contact the Contracting Authority for the tender in question. Q: Is the search field case sensitive? A: No, it is not.

Additional resources: Frequently Asked Questions