The provincial government is going to give public bodies more leeway to bypass the low bidder when awarding contracts in order to favour local companies.

Finance Minister Tom Osborne says the changes will help local business win contracts from the public sector.

Public bodies including agencies, boards, commissions, schools, municipalities and Crown corporations, are compelled to award the contract to the lowest bidder provided it meets conditions and criteria. Now, public bodies can award locally even if the bid is up to 10 per cent higher.

Osborne says the threshold at which open bids are required is also being increased.

Government is also implementing a short-term increase to thresholds for engineering services for municipalities and local service districts from the current R$100,000 to $264,200.