Testing SupplierTrust with your department
Innovative Solutions Canada’s Testing Stream pays for qualified innovations to be tested by federal departments and agencies in their own operations. SupplierTrust Verified is conditionally qualified under challenge TS13, so your team can ask the program for a test.
How to ask for a test
To ask for a test, email Innovative Solutions Canada at solutions@ised-isde.gc.ca or use its Test an innovation form, and name SupplierTrust Verified, offer TS13-023685. The program acts on requests that come directly from departments and agencies.
For a 20-minute demo first, email hello@suppliertrust.ca.
One-page summary: English (PDF, 596 KB) · Français (PDF, 604 Ko)
- Offer
- TS13-023685
- Solicitation
- EN578-26ISC1, challenge TS13
What happens after a department asks: Innovative Solutions Canada’s Testing Stream roadmap
What a test involves
| Scope | One department, with 10–20 suppliers and 10–20 buyers. |
|---|---|
| Data | Public or test records. Nothing classified or Protected. |
| Setting | A sandbox we would set up in Microsoft Azure’s Canadian regions, with no connection to your network. |
| Languages | English and French throughout. |
| Funding | Innovative Solutions Canada’s Testing Stream pays for an approved test. |
| Length | Indicative setup: three months, including four weeks to agree on the rules. All work within 12 months of contract award. |
Proposed schedule
Weeks 1–4
Agree on the rules
Which claims, which sources, how recent they must be, and what counts as success.
You get: Claim and source mapping, freshness and exception rules, privacy and retention decisions, and an agreed measurement plan.
Months 2–3
Set up and rehearse
A sandbox configured for your sources, and trained operators.
You get: Your approved websites, and repeatable valid and invalid scenarios.
Dates agreed after scoping
Run the test
Observed sessions with your suppliers and contracting officers.
You get: Measured time and errors, kept receipts, support records and weekly results.
Within 12 months
Review and hand over
An account of what worked and what didn’t.
You get: An acceptance report, open risks, runbooks, evidence exports and a decision on next steps.
Your team’s time
| A Technical Authority | Agrees on the scope, the environment and what counts as acceptance. |
|---|---|
| A source or procurement expert | Confirms what each claim may say, and from which source. |
| Security, privacy and accessibility reviewers | Review the test environment before any public supplier records are loaded. |
| Participants | 10–20 suppliers and 10–20 buyers, an estimated 60–90 minutes in total per participant for onboarding, tasks and feedback. |
| Planning | A 60–90 minute scoping session, two 90-minute workshops, then 30 minutes a week. |
What we’d measure
We agree on the measures with you before the test starts: time per check against your current process, invalid cases caught, availability during test windows, accessibility and support effort. Results report how many checks were made, the range of times, and every failure.
Common questions
These answers follow Innovative Solutions Canada’s Testing Stream roadmap and our offer. A Statement of Work would settle the details with your department.
- What does it cost my department or agency?
- Staff time only. Innovative Solutions Canada pays for an approved test; your department provides a Technical Authority, reviewers and test participants.
- Do we need to connect it to our systems?
- No. The test would run in a sandbox hosted in Canada, and participants use a web browser. Signing in through your identity provider is optional.
- What data does it use?
- Public or test supplier records, nothing classified or Protected. Participants’ business contact details are used for sign-in, and records are kept under retention rules you approve.
- Can the service see which suppliers we check?
- Yes, in part. Like any web server, it sees that a badge was checked and the request’s IP address. Buyers don’t sign in, so it doesn’t know who checked. For the test, we agree with you what is logged, how long it’s kept and who can see it.
- Who decides what a badge can say?
- Your department, or the source authority it designates. SupplierTrust shows that decision; it never decides whether a supplier is eligible.
- Can the badge state that a supplier holds a federal contract and is in good standing?
- That is the status TS13 asks for, and the badge can carry it once Canada names the public source that supports it. Amendment 002 says that source has yet to be determined. Until it is, a test uses Open Government procurement data, and the badge states only what those records show, such as a standing-offer listing. A listing isn’t an award, so the badge never presents it as one.
- What if our test needs security screening?
- Neither the company nor its staff hold a Government of Canada clearance today. Innovative Solutions Canada helps start any screening a test requires while the Statement of Work is prepared.