Summary#
Montréal city council unanimously adopted a position in favour of awarding a 36-month MongoDB support contract to Solutions Necando inc. This is not the final award: the agglomeration council makes the final decision at a later meeting. City staff say the goal is to keep city digital services stable and supported.
- The proposed contract runs from June 5, 2026, to June 4, 2029, for $313,903.72, taxes included.
- It would provide 24/7 technical support, one-hour response times for incidents, software and security updates, and database management tools.
- The public call for tenders received two compliant bids. Solutions Necando submitted the lower bid.
What it means for you#
- Residents: The city uses MongoDB in services such as montreal.ca, public alerts, citizen records and identity systems. City staff say support helps maintain these services; the decision does not itself add a new public service.
- City administration: The contract would support the city’s production, testing and development database environments. The proposed term begins when the current support contract ends.
- Taxpayers: The expense would be charged to the Information Technology Department’s operating budget. City staff say the required budget credits are already included in that budget.
Money#
The proposed contract costs $313,903.72, taxes included ($286,635.94 net of taxes), over 36 months.
- The yearly amounts are $99,572.95, $104,551.59 and $109,779.18.
- City staff report the average annual cost is 51.67% lower than the previous 36-month contract, which cost $649,568.
- The lower bid was 51.53% below the city’s estimate of $647,614.01. The second compliant bid was $899,104.90.
What is unclear#
- The materials do not say whether the agglomeration council will approve the proposed award.
- The materials do not explain how the city would respond if the contract’s support or updates were unavailable or did not meet service needs.
Case for#
- City staff say the support includes security updates, a one-hour incident response and 24/7 technical help for systems they describe as critical.
- The lowest compliant bid is substantially below both the city’s estimate and the prior contract’s cost, reducing the stated cost of support.
Case against#
- The two compliant bids differ sharply: the second is nearly three times the lower bid. That leaves uncertainty about how typical or sustainable the lower price is, even though staff attribute the gap to different pricing strategies.
- The city’s estimate was more than $333,000 above the lowest bid. The materials explain the estimate’s method, but the large gap makes its accuracy difficult to assess.