How to register on SEAO: the bidder's guide

1. Prepare the NEQ and a business email

Before opening SEAO, gather three things: your organization's Quebec business number (NEQ), a business email address and the company's official contact details. SEAO requires a professional account: a personal Gmail or Outlook address will not do. If a profile existed in the old SEAO, use the email associated with it to keep your history.

2. Create the professional account

Login goes through the government authentication service. Create a professional account, not a citizen account. The professional account carries the organization and its users; the citizen account is for personal matters and does not give access to SEAO functions.

3. Create or join the organization

Link the organization to its NEQ. The first person to create the organization automatically becomes the coordinator: they will manage the other users' profiles. If the organization already exists, ask the coordinator to create a profile for you rather than creating a second organization.

4. Recover an existing profile

If your company used the old SEAO, the profile is not recreated from scratch: the “Recover my profiles” function links it to the new account using the old user code and password. This must be done by the person who was coordinator in the old system. The old SEAO is now read-only.

5. Configure the four roles

SEAO distinguishes four profiles, each covering part of the journey:

• Coordinator: creates and manages the organization's user profiles.
• Accounting: registers payment methods (credit card) for document orders and submissions.
• STVE: accepts the electronic submission service terms and makes bid submissions.
• Specialist user: completes the company file in the supplier directory and activates subscription services.

6. Configure electronic submission (STVE)

The STVE profile must accept the terms of use, choose a payment method and complete a mandatory test submission before the first real one. Bids are transmitted as one or two PDF files depending on the notice. Submit at least one hour before the deadline: the service is billed per submission, and a last-minute submission leaves no margin if something goes wrong.

At the time of writing, an STVE submission costs $30 without a subscription and $20 with SEAO subscription services. STVE activation and the test submission are free. Check the current fee schedule before planning.

7. Complete the supplier directory

Under the Specialist user profile, complete the company file in the supplier directory. An up-to-date file helps public buyers find you and lets you activate subscription services, including personalized notices.

8. Subscribe to notices and addenda

Activate alerts matching your sectors and regions. But do not rely on emails alone: the addenda list must be checked in the dossier itself at every work session and immediately before submission. An addendum published after your last email can change a date, a clause or a price schedule.

9. First submission checklist

1. Organization linked to the correct NEQ and coordinator identified.
2. Payment method registered by the Accounting profile.
3. STVE terms accepted and test submission completed.
4. Notice documents downloaded from SEAO, addenda included.
5. Price schedule completed, checked and signed as instructed.
6. Submission made before the deadline, with proof of transmission kept.

10. Common mistakes

• Creating a citizen account instead of a professional account.
• Using a personal address instead of a business email.
• Creating a second organization when a profile already exists.
• Appointing a single user without configuring the Accounting and STVE roles.
• Discovering the test submission the day before the deadline.
• Working from documents received by email instead of downloading them from SEAO.