Between January 30 and early March, the provinces and territories began making requests for equipment. As I mentioned in an earlier answer, the government attempted to meet these needs, but could not meet them fully.
In early March, the government began a transition to mass procurement. Public Services and Procurement Canada created a procurement team to support this initiative. After March, work continued on how to best assess needs and make the necessary equipment purchases.
The process was very reactive initially, as the government was just trying to get equipment to meet the needs.