Checking the amendment rows of the federal contract register.. The register has no identifier linking a contract to its amendments. Rows are grouped by supplier, department, start of the period of work and original value, and ordered by reporting period. Checks 1 and 3 use only groups with one contract row and one procurement identifier. A group with a late or corrected filing …
Assay record ASY-AM-13VES9F13U · Cite as: Assay Systems, “Checking the amendment rows of the federal contract register — Assay Systems”, https://assay-systems.com/register/amendments/method/
Published 27 September 2026 · Source: Proactive Publication of Contracts, Government of Canada open data, 1,313,540 rows, 204,495 of them amendments, downloaded 2 September 2026.
The amendment rows depart from the published guidance three ways: amendment_value carries a running total, amendment_value is left blank, contract_date carries the date of the amendment.
The guidance defines amendment_value as “the value of the contract amendment”, mandatory on every amendment row, and asks that contract_date on an amendment be the date the contract was awarded. The Directive on the Management of Procurement (Appendix C, C.2.2) requires the data to be “materially accurate and complete”.
The register has no identifier linking a contract to its amendments. Rows are grouped by supplier, department, start of the period of work and original value, and ordered by reporting period.
Checks 1 and 3 use only groups with one contract row and one procurement identifier. A group with a late or corrected filing is set aside.
An amendment row is flagged when amendment_value equals the contract value less the original value and differs from the increase over the preceding amendment.
Correction: the contract value of the row less the contract value of the preceding row of the same contract.
Canada Border Services Agency, Corbel Management Corporation, contract of 1 December 2020:
| reference number | type | contract value | amendment value as published | corrected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-2020-2021-Q4-00268 | C | $1,195,314.00 | $0.00 | — |
| C-2021-2022-Q2-00331 | A | $3,559,422.03 | $2,364,108.03 | $2,364,108.03 |
| C-2021-2022-Q4-00334 | A | $5,927,598.06 | $4,732,284.06 | $2,368,176.03 |
The first amendment is filled as the guidance defines it. The second records $4,732,284.06, the sum of both amendments. It added $2,368,176.03.
Amendments reported together in one quarter do not trip the check.
An amendment row is flagged when amendment_value is empty. The guidance makes the field mandatory on every amendment row.
Correction: the same as in check 1.
Natural Resources Canada, NineSigma, Inc., contract of 26 February 2015:
| reference number | type | contract value | amendment value as published | corrected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-2014-2015-Q4-00193 | (none) | $74,748.00 | blank | — |
| C-2015-2016-Q4-00698 | A | $156,970.80 | blank | $82,222.80 |
An amendment row is flagged when its contract_date is later than the award date and falls in the quarter of the amendment or the one before. Task authorizations are excluded.
Correction: the award date carried by the contract row.
Shared Services Canada, Sage Data Solutions Inc., contract of 17 May 2016:
| reference number | type | reporting period | contract date as published | corrected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-2016-2017-Q1-00217 | C | 2016-2017-Q1 | 2016-05-17 | — |
| C-2017-2018-Q1-00093 | A | 2017-2018-Q1 | 2017-05-25 | 2016-05-17 |
| C-2017-2018-Q4-00100 | A | 2017-2018-Q4 | 2018-02-27 | 2016-05-17 |
| C-2018-2019-Q1-00037 | A | 2018-2019-Q1 | 2018-05-22 | 2016-05-17 |
A sum by year puts this contract in three fiscal years instead of one.
A random sample of one row per department, checked against the published CSV: check 1, 18 of 19 confirmed; check 3, 20 of 20. The count in check 1 is a lower bound.
One file for each department: the affected rows, the defect in each and the corrected value, ready for the next quarterly load.
The finding: The federal contract register counts every amendment as a contract.