Where to Find Construction Bids and Upcoming Projects in North America: Public Portals, Bid Networks and Pre-Bid Data
Upcoming construction work in North America is published in three places, and no single platform covers all of them. Public owners such as governments, school boards, hospitals and transit agencies must advertise, so their work appears on official portals: CanadaBuys, MERX and the provincial portals in Canada, SAM.gov and state and local portals in the US. Private general contractors invite subcontractors through bid networks such as BuildingConnected and PlanHub, while ConstructConnect and Dodge sell data on published commercial bids. Private projects that are never publicly bid appear first as building permits and planning applications, which is where Builtie finds them and attaches the decision maker.
The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.
Public work in Canada: the official portals
| Jurisdiction | Where public work is posted | What you find there |
|---|---|---|
| Federal | CanadaBuys | Government of Canada tenders, including construction and facilities work. It replaced Buyandsell.gc.ca. |
| Multi-level | MERX | A tendering service carrying many federal, provincial, municipal and private tenders. Some documents are paid. |
| Ontario | Ontario Tenders Portal | Ontario ministries and agencies. Municipalities often post on bids&tenders or Biddingo instead. |
| Quebec | SEAO | The official electronic tendering system for Quebec public bodies. |
| British Columbia | BC Bid | BC government and many public sector bodies. BidCentral aggregates BC construction bids privately. |
| Alberta | Alberta Purchasing Connection | Alberta government and public sector opportunities. |
| Municipal, many provinces | bids&tenders, Biddingo | City, town, school board and utility tenders, depending on which service each buyer uses. |
Public work in the United States
| Jurisdiction | Where public work is posted | What you find there |
|---|---|---|
| Federal | SAM.gov | Federal contract opportunities, including construction, formerly listed on FedBizOpps. |
| State | Each state's procurement portal | State agencies and universities. State transportation departments post highway lettings separately. |
| Local | BidNet Direct, DemandStar | Aggregators that many cities, counties and school districts publish through. |
| Large cities | The city's own portal | Big cities often run their own system; New York City uses PASSPort, for example. |
Public portals are free or cheap to browse and the rules are fixed: open bidding, published deadlines, and usually the lowest compliant price. For how that game differs from private work, see public tenders vs private project leads.
Private work that is bid: invitation networks and plan rooms
| Source | How it works | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| BuildingConnected | General contractors send bid invitations to subcontractors on their lists. Free for subs to receive. | Subcontractors already known to GCs |
| PlanHub | GCs post commercial projects and subcontractors bid. Free and paid tiers. | Subcontractors looking for more GC invitations |
| ConstructConnect | Commercial project data with plans, specs and bidder information, by subscription. | Contractors and suppliers who bid published work often |
| Dodge Construction Network | Commercial project reports, plans and participants, by subscription. | Contractors and manufacturers tracking large commercial work |
| Regional construction associations | Many run plan rooms or bid calls for members. | Local trades who want member-only bid calls |
Descriptions as of September 2026. For a closer comparison of the bid tools themselves, see Best construction bidding software (2026).
Private work that is never bid publicly: permits and planning
Most private work, including renovations, custom homes, small commercial fit-outs and the trade packages under a general contractor, is awarded by invitation or relationship and never appears on a bid board. The first public sign of it is a planning application or a building permit. By the time a trade package is invited, the GC usually has a short list already.
Stage positions are typical, not fixed. Builtie estimates each project's stage from its permit record.
Builtie reads those records, groups the permits into projects, estimates how far along each build is, resolves the builder, developer or GC behind it, and attaches a verified decision maker. Coverage by city lists the markets and project volume.
Which source to check first, by what you do
| If you are | Check first | Then |
|---|---|---|
| A trade subcontractor bidding commercial work | BuildingConnected and PlanHub invitations | Builtie, to reach the GC before the invitations go out |
| A general contractor bidding public work | The official portals for your province or state | ConstructConnect or Dodge for private commercial bids |
| A trade selling into private residential or small commercial work | Builtie's permitted projects | Local GC and builder relationships |
| A supplier or manufacturer | ConstructConnect or Dodge at the specification stage | Builtie for the builder and trade contacts on each project |
Looking for construction jobs rather than contracts?
Construction work also means jobs for workers. Job boards such as Indeed, LinkedIn Jobs and specialist construction job sites list those. This page is about finding contracts and projects for a construction business.
Plans and coverage
Builtie's Starter plan is $79 per seat per month (CAD) for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects and adds the LinkedIn and email outreach you run yourself. Opening a project spends one credit, and the decision makers, emails, phones and AI call script inside it are included. Your monthly credits reset at each renewal, and extra credit packs are valid for 30 days. The free trial runs 7 days with 10 projects. Custom, where Builtie's team runs the outreach for you, starts from CAD $1,500 a month on top of a Growth seat.
Builtie covers North America, with its deepest permit and contact data in the Greater Toronto Area, where it started. How much a city yields depends on what that municipality publishes, so ask for live sample projects in your own city before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Where can contractors find upcoming commercial construction bids?
Public commercial work is posted on official portals: CanadaBuys, MERX and provincial portals in Canada, SAM.gov and state and local portals in the US. Private commercial bids come through BuildingConnected and PlanHub invitations or through ConstructConnect and Dodge project data. Private work that is never publicly bid shows up first as a building permit, which Builtie tracks.
Are there reliable platforms that help contractors identify upcoming commercial construction bids?
Yes. ConstructConnect and Dodge Construction Network are the long-standing subscription sources for published commercial projects. BuildingConnected and PlanHub carry GC invitations. For private projects before any bid is invited, Builtie reads building permits and attaches the decision maker.
What is the free way to find government construction tenders in Canada?
CanadaBuys lists federal tenders for free. Provinces run their own portals, such as the Ontario Tenders Portal, SEAO in Quebec, BC Bid and Alberta Purchasing Connection, and many municipalities post on bids&tenders or Biddingo.
Where do I find federal construction contracts in the US?
SAM.gov lists federal contract opportunities, including construction. State and local public work is posted on each state's procurement portal and on aggregators such as BidNet Direct and DemandStar.
Why don't I see private projects on bid sites?
Most private work is awarded by invitation. A developer picks a GC, and the GC invites trades it already knows. The project appears in public records as a building permit long before any invitation, which is why permit-based tools reach it earlier.
Does Builtie list public tenders?
No. Builtie starts from building permits and planning records and focuses on private projects and the people who award them. For public tenders, use the official portals listed on this page. Builtie plans start at $79 per seat per month with a 7-day free trial.