Alberta Municipalities Grapple With TILMA Rules

Wendy Cooper, chief executive officer of Consulting Engineers of Alberta, is travelling to remote rural areas of the province to help municipal officials understand how to procure consultant services under the new TILMA agreement. According to CEA, “there was a lot of confusion and misinformation on this topic with our municipal clients.”

The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) came into force in April this year as a measure to remove trade barriers between the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. It means that for the first time consulting engineering companies are free to bid for work in both provinces.

Cooper explains that before TILMA came into force, many –not all –municipalities would have a preferred consultant. But now they have to solicit proposals from far and wide, and they don’t always have the experience or resources to handle the complexities of the procurement process.