About the Initiative

In October 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government introduced a new, time-limited COVID-19 Resiliency Infrastructure Stream (CVRIS) – an initiative that provides up to $700 million in combined federal-provincial funding for education-related projects that protect the health and well-being of students, staff and children.

OECM has been coordinating with both school boards and MEDU to support the CVRIS initiative. OECM has assembled a team of facilities experts who have extensive experience working directly within School boards – the OECM Facilities Support Team (OFST). The group is comprised of seasoned Operations, Maintenance and Construction (OMC) leads, Superintendents and other senior-level Board leaders to assist OECM and school boards.

Immediate product and service priorities identified by MEDU are portable classrooms, water bottle filling stations, door accessories, handwashing stations, touchless fixtures and Wi-Fi access points. Products and services that have been shared by School boards, and fall under CVRIS funding, include both HVAC and non-HVAC commodities.

OECM’s Role

OECM’s primary goal is to lead the coordination of procurement activities to ensure school boards can access the necessary CVRIS products and services within the time-limited parameters. Activities include:

• Secure supply on time sensitive CVRIS product categories,
• Coordinate all aspects of the procurement process – including negotiations,
• Enable schoolboards to focus on core maintenance/facilities priorities,
• Ensure collaborative procurement is consistent with Provincial Government’s direction; and
• Leverage existing supplier partners currently working with OECM.

In addition, OECM’s rigorous procurement process is aligned with the CVRIS eligibility criteria and is compliant with the Ontario BPS Procurement Directive and applicable trade agreements.

Learn more about the CVRIS Procurement Activities’ Status
(This page is password protected and available to School Boards only)

To request access, please contact the OECM-CVRIS Initiative Project Director, Jim Hadjiyianni.