Doing Business with the City of

Toronto

Purchasing and Materials Management Division

City of Toronto – Purchasing and Materials

Management

• One of the largest purchasers in the public

sector

• In 2013, Toronto awarded $1.6 billion in

contracts

• Toronto buys a variety of goods and services

– Various construction related services

– Vehicles, electrical supplies, office supplies,

chemicals and gas

– Consulting services (engineers, architects,

legal etc)

– Various I&T solutions

Types of Purchases by Unit

Breakdown of total purchases by Unit:

• Construction 31%

• Goods and Services 46%

• Professional Services 23%

Role of the Purchasing & Materials

Management Division

• Responsible for Purchases for:

• All City Divisions

• Board of Governors of Exhibition Place

• Joint purchasing with all other City Agencies and Corporations

• Work with these groups to issue Request for Quotation, Request for Proposal, Request for Tender and Request for Offer to Purchase Calls

Bid Solicitation Methods

Bids Solicited By:

• Telephone / Fax/ E-mail (Less than $50K in value)

• Request for Tenders

• Request for Quotations

• Request for Proposals

• Request for Offer to Purchase

The City's Online Call Document System gives vendors the

opportunity to purchase call documents , with an estimated

value greater than $50,000 , 24 hours a day, seven days a

week from the City's website. Call documents available online

include:

• Expression of Interest

• Request for Proposals

• Request for Quotations

• Offer to Purchase

• Tender calls without blueprint drawings. *

*Note: Tender calls with blueprint drawings are advertised

online and must be purchased and picked up at City Hall,

19th Floor West, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON.

The Online Call Document System

enables vendors to browse and view

business opportunities with the City

of Toronto, 24hrs / 7 days a week.

For further information or

assistance:

• Online Call Document System Customer

Service

• Tel: (416) 392-7353

• E-Mail: citybids@toronto.ca

• Doing Business with the City: http://www.toronto.ca/citybusiness/aboutpmmd.htm

Dos and Don'ts - Tips for

Responding to RFxs

• Do read the RFx carefully to understand what

exactly is required to respond to the RFx

– Read the viewing copy prior to purchasing the

document to ensure that your company can meet

the requirements

• Do take advantage of the question/answer period

to clarify anything about the RFx by writing

questions or requesting changes to the Official

Point of Contact

– The City will respond to all questions asked during

this period.

Dos and Don'ts - Tips for

Responding to RFxs

• Do not make assumptions about the RFx, make

sure you understand what the document says

• Do not submit your own terms and conditions

that are contrary to the City’s terms and

conditions. If you can’t abide by the terms and

conditions, ask if the City will change them during

the Q&A period.

• Do not forget to supply all the mandatory

submission requirements by the closing deadline

• Do take the time to let the City know why you

don’t want to bid, it helps us improve the process

for the next time.

Other Tips

• When a call is on the street, until the call is

awarded, a blackout period goes into effect

which requires vendors to only communicate

with the Official Point of Contact. During this

time refrain from contacting other City staff or

Councillors about the call as that may be

seen as lobbying.

• For more information on lobbying go to:

http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly

?vgnextoid=cf1fb7537e35f310VgnVCM10000

071d60f89RCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Unsolicited Proposals?

Please contact the Toronto Office of

Partnerships at:

Phone: 416-392-6121

Fax: 416-392-6118

Web site: www.toronto.ca/top/index.htm

New initiative – City of Toronto Social

Procurement Policy • In May 2013, Council directed staff to develop and

report back on a Toronto Social Procurement Policy,

inclusive of best practices for consideration by the

end of 2015.

• The purpose is to use the procurement process to

advance positive economic, workforce and social

development goals.

• It has two components – Workforce development and

Supply Chain Diversity

Two Main Forms of Social

Procurement

Workforce Development

The goal of workforce development is to promote a

skilled and competitive workforce and a vibrant local

economy by working with contractors to identify

employment opportunities that can be leveraged in City

contracts, like apprenticeship programs

Supply Chain Diversity

The goal of supply chain diversity is to increase the

number of diverse-owned businesses bidding on City

contracts.

Pilot Projects

• To inform the development of a social procurement policy

that achieves these goals while maintaining fairness and

value-for-money, the City will be running pilot projects in

2014.

• Larger contract pilots (from $50K to over $1M) are

planned to include a range of contracts such as painting,

demolition, renovation, construction, design/architecture,

engineering consulting, and mechanical litter removal.

• For small contracts (i.e. under $50K), the City is piloting

an initiative to open up the purchasing process to a wider

vendor base than the current process allows. This

approach will be piloted in a City division by posting its

contract opportunities online and should help supply chain

diversity.

• Questions?