Insurance and WCB requirements for public construction bids (2026)

Before a public buyer will consider your bid — and before they'll release final payment — they want proof you're insured and that your workers are covered. These requirements are routine, but they trip up contractors who treat them as an afterthought, because a missing endorsement or a lapsed clearance letter can stall a payment or sink an otherwise winning bid. Here's what public construction buyers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia typically ask for.

Commercial general liability — the big one

Commercial general liability (CGL) is the coverage every public solicitation will name. Three things to get right:

• Limits. $2 million per occurrence is the standard baseline. Larger commercial and infrastructure projects commonly require $5 million to $10 million. There's no universal figure — the tender sets it — so read the insurance schedule before you price the job. (Where a tender uses the CCDC standard contracts, note those forms set higher general and auto liability limits than the $2M floor.)
• Additional insured. Public owners require you to name them as an additional insured for liability arising out of your work. Being listed as a certificate holder is not the same thing — only the additional-insured endorsement extends the protection, so ask your broker for the endorsement, not just a certificate.
• Cross-liability. Public CGL requirements typically mandate a cross-liability (severability of interests) clause, so the policy responds to each insured as if it held a separate policy.

Owners require proof before work starts because that's when their exposure begins — the point is to make sure a claim is paid by your insurer, not theirs.

Auto, professional, and builder's risk

• Automobile liability covering owned, non-owned, and hired vehicles — commonly $2 million, higher where vehicle use is significant. Confirm the required limit in the tender.
• Professional / errors-and-omissions coverage when you carry design responsibility — design-build, EPC, or any scope where you provide engineering or design services. Standard contractor policies don't cover the professional liability you take on as a design-builder.
• Builder's risk (course of construction) — "all-risk" coverage for physical loss or damage to the works during construction. Whether the owner or the general contractor carries it is contract-specific; it's commonly issued in the joint names of owner and contractor. Check who's responsible in your contract documents.

Workers' compensation: the clearance letter

Every province requires you to carry workers'-compensation coverage and to prove it's in good standing — typically before work starts and before final payment. The boards, by province you work in:

• Alberta — WCB-Alberta (clearance letter)
• Saskatchewan — Saskatchewan WCB (clearance / letter of good standing)
• British Columbia — WorkSafeBC (clearance letter)
• Ontario — WSIB (clearance certificate)

The mechanism is the same everywhere: if a principal pays a contractor who owes premiums, the principal can be held liable for them — up to the labour portion of the contract. That's why buyers verify before they pay. If you work across provincial lines, you need current coverage and a clearance letter from each board.

Insurance isn't bonding — and neither is COR

Three separate gates that contractors sometimes blur:

• Insurance pools risk and pays claims (above).
• Surety bonding is a guarantee, evaluated and procured separately — see our bid bonds and surety primer.
• COR safety certification is a safety-management-system audit, separate again — covered in our prequalification guides for Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.

The short version

Before you chase public tenders, line up:

• CGL at the limit the tender requires (commonly $2M, often $5M–$10M on larger work), with additional-insured and cross-liability in place
• Auto liability for your vehicles, and professional liability where you hold design responsibility
• Clarity on who carries builder's risk for each project
• A current WCB / WorkSafe clearance letter for every province you work in
• A broker who can issue project-specific certificates naming the owner on short notice

With the coverage handled, the question is which tenders are worth pursuing — browse what's open across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, then start free to see them matched to your profile.

Insurance and workers'-compensation requirements vary by buyer and project and change over time. The figures above are common practice, not a rule — always follow the insurance schedule and requirements of the specific solicitation you're bidding, and confirm coverage with your broker.