Frequently Asked Questions

There are two important bid dispute resolution stages outlined in the Province’s Bid Dispute Resolution Guide; Stage 1 Consultations and Stage 2 Formal Bid Dispute Resolution Process. The Province’s Bid Dispute Resolution Guide was developed in accordance with the bid dispute requirements in the CFTA and the CETA. The table below outlines how OECM aligns with the stages.

The Ontario government is currently developing a new Vendor of Record (“VOR”) arrangement for bid dispute processes whereby public sector organizations will have access to independent, third party review. The anticipated implementation date is summer 2018 and further details will be shared in the future, following which OECM will confirm if it will adopt the Province’s VOR arrangement for bid dispute resolution.

The Trade Agreements and the BPS Procurement Directive recognize collaborative procurements as a coordinated event that facilitates purchasing on behalf of multiple organizations. Based on the BPS Procurement Directive Implementation Guidebook, collaborative procurement may be facilitated by, but not limited to, Buying Groups, Group Purchasing Organizations (“GPO”) and Shared Service Organizations (“SSO”).

OECM is an independent, non-profit, collaborative sourcing organization that leverages the collective purchasing power of its client members. The OECM structure is substantially a hybrid between a SSO and a GPO structure.

While OECM does not require upfront commitment for RFXs, OECM does ensure that:

• All RFX projects are conducted in an open, fair, transparent, and competitive manner and meet Trade Agreement and BPS Procurement Directive requirements.
• All eligible client members are listed in the solicitation document. Client members that have contributed to the development to the document are named in the RFX, provided they are in agreement to be named.
• Historical volumes are included in retenders.
• The use of a second stage selection process is referenced in the RFX and in resulting agreement(s).

OECM conducts open, fair, transparent, and competitive procurements and OECM has taken the following steps under the guidance of legal counsel:

• All RFXs have been updated to include a statement that the procurement is subject to Chapter Five – Government Procurement of the CFTA and Chapter Nineteen of the CETA, if and when applicable;
• Tender notices have been updated to conform to Article 506 of the CFTA and Article 19.6 of the CETA; and,
• Award notices have been updated to conform to Article 516 of the CFTA and Article 19.15 of the CETA.

All bidders who participate in a procurement opportunity are offered a debriefing by OECM. Once the award announcement has been made, OECM allows bidders sixty (60) calendar days to request a debriefing (per the BPS Procurement Directive). During a debrief, OECM provides the name of the successful suppliers and the strengths and weaknesses of the bidder’s proposal. OECM also elicits feedback from bidders in order to continually improve the procurement process.

Yes, OECM primarily uses a non-binding procurement process for our sourcing projects. As such, part of the evaluation process may include negotiations and the details are published in the tendering notice and RFX document.

Yes, OECM’s standard practice is to publish an award notification on the electronic tendering system where the RFX was posted. OECM publishes award notices within seventy two (72) calendar days of award. This complies with the trade agreement obligations.

The award notification also includes all information required by CFTA Article 516 and CETA Article 19.15.

Yes, OECM is in discussions with the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, Supply Ontario to adopt a consistent approach to addressing buying group requirements and to provide clarification to OECM’s client members which will support the continued increased use of collaborative agreements, including OECMs.

OECM ensures compliance with trade agreements by including the following information in its notice of procurement:

• Contact information
• Description of the procurement
• Goods/services to be procured
• Timelines
• Address and final date
• Date, time, place of the submission
• Conditions for suppliers
• Notice of compliance with CFTA and CETA
• Procurement method (including negotiations, if applicable)
• Language

OECM posts RFX opportunities for a minimum of thirty (30) calendar days on a public electronic tendering platform.

Under CFTA there is no minimum posting time required. The posting time must be reasonable in the circumstances of the RFX opportunity.

Under CETA open procurement opportunities must be posted for a minimum of forty (40) calendar days. However, in accordance with Article 19.10 – Time Period, OECM may reduce posting time by a total of fifteen (15) days as bids are posted electronically (5 days), all documents are available electronically from the date of notice of publication (5 days) and received electronically (5 days).

In addition, OECM engages the supplier market in the procurement planning stage via supplier consultations and issues a notice of procurement in advance of the upcoming RFX opportunities.

The specific details of the reporting requirements and the manner in which data will be provided are still being worked out by the provincial government. However, we do know that annually organizations will be required to report on the number and aggregate value of the contracts (open and non-competitive) for goods, services and construction conducted above the trade agreement thresholds.

For the past five (5) years, on an annual basis OECM has provided client members in the education sector with collaborative spend data on each OECM agreement in which they participate. OECM can also provide other BPS entities utilizing the agreements with their collaborative spend data, upon request.

The Province has indicated that it expects to start collection and reporting on the first set of data in 2018. Once reporting details are finalized, OECM will assist client members with reporting requirements related to OECM agreement use.

OECM issues an RFX document based on the requirements identified by client members and may award agreements to multiple suppliers. OECM signs a Master Agreement (“MA”) with successful suppliers, and OECM client members can sign a Client-Supplier Agreement (“CSA”) with the supplier(s) and obtain products and/or services on the terms, conditions, and (maximum) rates set out in the MA.

Second stage selection processes are identified in the RFX document(s).

As a best practice it is strongly recommended that the client member use the second stage selection process (i.e. called a Quick Quote (“QQ”) process at OECM) in accordance with their internal policies, procurement processes, procedures and potential dollar value of their purchase to obtain a quote for their specific requirements.

OECM can facilitate this process by assisting in development of the QQ document with your specific requirements and managing the receipt and compilation of supplier quotes for evaluation.

To provide additional support to the second stage selection process OECM is currently developing a user guide and templates to assist and streamline the process.

OECM uses the Ontario Tenders Portal (“OTP”) to post its RFX documents. Additionally, a tender notice is posted on MERX™ and Biddingo advising suppliers of the opportunity and directing them to OTP’s website for the RFX package.