Upcoming changes to purchasing thresholds and Execution of Contracts Policy at TMU
To: EG, APG and AOMG
Recently, the Government of Ontario announced revisions to the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive (BPS) that come into effect on January 1, 2024. With this change, broader public sector organizations like TMU will see an increase in some open competitive procurement thresholds.
As a result, the university has made changes to the Execution of Contracts Policy and Purchasing Procedure to reflect the BPS changes and current university practice.
We ask that you please share this email, as appropriate, with employees from your unit responsible for purchasing or authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the university.
BPS directive
The BPS directive aims to ensure that publicly funded goods and services are acquired by BPS organizations through competitive and transparent processes and outlines the responsibilities of BPS organizations through each stage of the procurement process.
This directive also supports the province’s Building Ontario Businesses Initiative (BOBI), designed to provide companies greater access to public procurement opportunities and create new opportunities and reduce barriers for businesses in Ontario.
Learn more about purchasing and procurement at TMU by reviewing the university’s Purchasing Policy and Purchasing Procedure.
How the BPS impacts procurement at TMU
As of January 1:
- The open competitive procurement threshold will increase from $100,000 to $120,000; and
- TMU must consider providing a minimum bid response time of thirty (30) calendar days for procurements of high complexity, risk and/or high dollar value.
Note: The $25,000 invitational threshold limit (goods and professional services) is unchanged as it is a best practice to solicit multiple quotations.
Execution of Contracts Policy
The Execution of Contracts Policy specifies the roles within the university that are authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the university, as well as the process that must be followed by units to support the request for signatures. With the exception of certain contract types that are specified in the Policy, signing authority at the university is determined according to the aggregate value of the agreement.
To reflect the increase in the competitive procurement threshold, the Board of Governors has revised the Execution of Contracts Policy.
In addition to certain editorial revisions to provide consistency and clarification, the Policy has been revised to:
- Increase the first level signing authority threshold to $120,000 to align with the BPS increases;
- Remove the “Executive Director” title from the first-level signing authority threshold and add the title “Chief” to better reflect the organizational structure of the university and those individuals reporting to the second-level signatories;
- Clarify the requirement that an assessment of the risks to which the university may be exposed to by entering into a contract must be prepared by the unit seeking signature and provided to the signing authority; and
- Clarify that units seeking approval for specific types of agreements (i.e. software agreements) are required to obtain approval from certain units at the university including the Privacy Office, Computing and Communications Services (CCS) and Risk Management.
Where appropriate, to facilitate the operations of the university, an authorized signatory can delegate signing authority to another individual by completion of a Delegation of Authority form (external link) and emailing it to gcbs@torontomu.ca.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive, please contact Vince Carinci, senior director of strategic procurement and payment services, at vcarinci@torontomu.ca.
If you have any questions about the Execution of Contracts Policy, please contact Jennifer MacInnis, associate general counsel, at jmacinnis@torontomu.ca.