Prepared for Harman Behniwal, Universal Building Services
Edmonton has the work.
Here's how a builder your size gets in front of it.
Real numbers from the City of Edmonton's open data and Alberta Purchasing Connection, pulled Nov 6 and 7. Nothing on these pages is a guess unless it says "estimate".
Mowlid Hashi, Bid Help. Saturday Nov 7, 2026.
The market, private side
29 commercial fit-outs a week, and nobody's name on most of them
Commercial interior alteration permits issued per week, Edmonton, Sep 7 to Nov 1
New business licences in 8 weeks, the tenants who fit out next (1,069 total)
230 interior alteration permits in 8 weeks, worth $56.5 million. The City publishes the address and the scope but not who's building it. That gap is the list.
Where the money is
One average job pays for a year of this
Construction values straight from the permits. Your margin is your number; the 10% line is an estimate so the math has a shape.
Also in the same 8 weeks: 64 new commercial buildings, about $5.4 million each on average, and 292 new construction and contracting licences. That's 37 new competitors a week. The ones who win are the ones who hear about the job first.
The market, public side
From 263 open tenders to the 3 that fit you this week
Percent of the 263 open tenders by how many companies are showing interest. Median is 4. 45% have 3 or fewer.
Public work is less crowded than people think. 45% of open tenders this week have three or fewer companies looking at them. The filter isn't competition, it's paperwork and certificates.
Open right now
Three jobs that fit a construction manager, checked live on APC
I haven't read these packages yet. The free checklist is me reading one of them cover to cover for you.
St. Nicholas School artificial turf, general contractor
Edmonton Catholic Schools, AB-2026-07302GC work: earthworks, granular base, drainage, concrete, fencing, site furnishings, restoration. Coordinate with the turf supplier. Stipulated price bid.
Nov 30
closes 2 pm. Site meeting Thu Nov 19, 2 pm. 2 companies interested as of this week.
Haig Lake Fire Base washhouse conversion
Alberta Forestry and Parks, AB-2026-07314Interior renovation: communal washhouse into eight single bathrooms plus laundry. Done by April 30, 2027. Remote site near Peace River.
Nov 23
closes 2 pm. Mandatory site meeting Fri Nov 13, 1 pm. 14 interested.
Dock levelers install, school facility services
Edmonton Catholic Schools, Bonfire Q-2026-76Small install. The kind of job that puts a new name on a school board's vendor list for the bigger ones.
Dec 2
closes. Pulled from the Bonfire portal Nov 6.
Two I left off on purpose: a fire station prequal and a school modernization. Both had mandatory site meetings that already passed. That's the kind of thing the checklist catches before you spend a weekend.
The certificate is the bid
What a five-year roster is worth, and what it asks for
One Edmonton housing provider is building a general contractor roster right now: 23 buildings, about 1,300 units, five years plus a five-year option, and an estimated $1 to $3 million of work a year across the roster. Entry is a 100-point written questionnaire; everyone who scores 80 gets on. The pass/fail items are the ones you're already collecting: WCB clearance, insurance at $2 million, a business licence, and COR, SECOR or a Temporary Letter of Certification.
SECOR is the small-shop COR, for 10 or fewer people on WCB. ACSA wants three months of safety records before the audit, and issues a Temporary Letter so you can bid while you build them. Start the clock now and the spring rosters are yours to apply for.
How we work
Three steps. The first one is free.
- 1
Free checklist on one job, by Monday morning. I read the whole package: deadline, every form, every must-have, what gets a bid thrown out, the questions to send the buyer. One page.
- 2
If you want it written, a flat fee, told before I start. Half to start, the rest when you've read the draft. Same fee whether you win or not. Rejected for something I missed, you get your money back.
- 3
The Monday list. Five Edmonton jobs and spaces a week that need a builder, with the address, what's happening there and who to ask for. Private work and public work, every Alberta portal, one builder only.
The price card
Flat fees. No percentage of your job, ever.
Closing inside four days adds $250. The Monday list is paid in advance and cancels any month. If the first list has nothing worth calling, it's refunded.
On an average $245,560 interior alteration, a written bid is 0.3% of the job and a month of the list is 0.08%.
The next 90 days
Private work now, public work by spring
Week of Nov 9
First Monday list lands. Free checklist on the job you pick today. Haig Lake site meeting Fri Nov 13 if you want that one.
Nov 19 to Dec 2
St. Nicholas site meeting Nov 19, bid due Nov 30. Dock levelers due Dec 2. SECOR paperwork starts: WCB account, ACSA membership, the safety manual.
Dec to Feb
Three months of safety records for SECOR, with a Temporary Letter in hand so you can still bid. The Monday list keeps the private pipeline moving.
Mar 2027
Roster season. Housing providers, school boards and the Province open five-year general contractor lists. I write the applications; you're on the lists for the next five years of small jobs.
By March you have a certificate, a bid record, and about 80 Edmonton places that know your name. That's what the next five years get built on.
What I need from you
Four things to say yes to today
- Pick the job for the free checklist: St. Nicholas, Haig Lake or the dock levelers. It's in your inbox Monday morning.
- Start the Monday list. $199 for the month, e-transfer today, first five places Monday.
- Send me three papers this weekend: WCB clearance letter, insurance certificate with the limit on it, and where you are on COR or SECOR.
- Three or four finished jobs you'd use as references, with a name and number for each.
Mowlid Hashi, Bid Help. (587) 605-4171. mowlidhashi93@gmail.com. bidhelp.ca