Not pictured: Senior Manager, Strategic Sourcing: Aila You, Project Lead: Laura Cocuzzi, Sourcing Managers: Connie Forrest, Patti Greer, Karen Latreille, Catherine Morton; Sourcing Analyst: Preeti Kaushal, Sourcing Specialist: Annie Kwok
For more than 20 years, OECM’s Strategic Sourcing Team has played an important role in supporting fair, transparent, and competitive procurement across Ontario’s public sector. Through collaboration, market expertise, and a strong focus on compliance, innovation, and long-term value, the team helps customers navigate increasingly complex procurement needs with confidence.
Behind every agreement is a group of dedicated professionals whose work extends beyond the sourcing process itself. From engaging stakeholders and responding to policy shifts, to strengthening procurement through market intelligence, process improvement, and ESGI considerations, the Strategic Sourcing Team helps public sector organizations access high-quality, compliant procurement solutions that support better outcomes.
How Strategic Sourcing Supports Better Procurement
Strategic sourcing is a structured approach to procurement that goes beyond purchasing goods and services. It brings together market research, stakeholder engagement, compliance, and long-term planning to help procurement decisions deliver value, reduce risk, and support broader public sector priorities.
For OECM, this means leading a fair, transparent, and competitive sourcing process from planning and document development through to evaluation, award, and agreement launch. It also means creating agreements that help customers save time, reduce administrative burden, and access compliant solutions with confidence.
Each procurement initiative is designed to identify supplier partners that can:
- deliver innovative solutions that support customer needs
- reduce administrative burden and procurement costs
- provide high-quality, timely, and reliable service
- demonstrate value for money
- support sustainability and circular economy principles
- align with environmental, social, governance, and Indigenous priorities
- offer strong customer service and account management
- ensure access to quality goods and services at the right price, place, and time
This disciplined approach helps ensure that every agreement is not only compliant with public procurement directives and trade agreement obligations but also aligned with the evolving priorities of our customers.
Creating Value Beyond Cost Savings
Strategic sourcing is about more than securing competitive pricing. It is about creating value across the full procurement experience.
The Strategic Sourcing Team helps deliver that value by establishing agreements that support quality, service, supplier partner accountability, operational efficiency, and informed decision-making. Their work helps build and refresh OECM’s Marketplace so customers can access a broad range of competitively sourced goods and services across diverse categories.
This approach reduces the time, effort, and administrative burden customers would otherwise face in running their own procurements. It also helps create more consistent procurement experiences across the broader public sector.
For smaller organizations in particular, this support can be especially significant. Many public sector organizations operate with limited staff, time, or procurement capacity. Access to collaborative procurement solutions and expert guidance helps these organizations meet their needs while maintaining compliance and reducing complexity.
Supporting Better Procurement Through Collaboration
Effective public procurement depends on strong partnerships.
The Strategic Sourcing Team works closely with customers, supplier partners, sector representatives, and our internal teams so procurement strategies reflect real operational needs while remaining fair, open, and compliant. This collaborative approach helps create agreements that are practical, responsive, and aligned with the needs of Ontario’s public and broader public sector.
Collaboration is especially important in a landscape shaped by changing government policy, regulatory frameworks, and evolving customer expectations. By working with our Customer Council Committee members, Project Advisors, Customer Relationship Management Team, Supplier Relationship Management Team, and other stakeholders, the team helps bridge procurement complexity with customer-focused solutions.
This support is especially valuable for customers that may not have the internal capacity or specialized expertise to manage large or complex procurements on their own. Through collaborative procurement, customers gain access to competitively sourced agreements and strategic guidance that help them buy with confidence.
See How OECM is Building Successful Team and Supplier Relationships through Collaboration
Helping Customers Navigate Complexity and Risk
Public procurement has become increasingly complex. Organizations must respond to evolving directives, trade agreement requirements, market shifts, operational pressures, and broader economic uncertainty.
The Strategic Sourcing Team plays a key role in helping customers navigate this environment. Through careful planning, due diligence, supplier partner engagement, and clear procurement strategies, the team helps reduce risk and support continuity for public sector customers.
This work has become even more important during periods of disruption. Whether responding to supply chain pressures, tariff uncertainty, or new procurement restriction policies, the team helps ensure customers continue to have access to compliant and competitive sourcing options.
By incorporating policy requirements into procurement documents, conducting pre-posting risk assessments, and assessing supplier partner and market impacts, the team helps strengthen procurement decision-making while maintaining service continuity and public sector confidence.
Read How OECM is Supporting Public Sector Procurement through U.S. Tariffs
Strengthening Procurement Through Process Improvement
Modern public procurement requires strong processes that support efficiency, transparency, accountability, and responsiveness.
Continuous improvement helps strengthen the procurement lifecycle by reducing manual effort, improving visibility into approvals and documentation, and supporting more consistent agreement management. Stronger processes also help maintain audit readiness, support data integrity, and allow teams to focus more time on strategic and value-added work.
For customers, this means a more reliable procurement experience, improved access to information, and better alignment between sourcing activities and organizational needs.
Read How OECM is Leveraging the Power of Technology and Automation in Public Procurement
Aligning Procurement with Sector Priorities
Public procurement is increasingly expected to deliver outcomes beyond cost and compliance alone.
Environmental, social, governance, and Indigenous considerations are becoming a more important part of procurement decision-making across the public sector. The Strategic Sourcing Team supports this shift by embedding ESGI-related considerations into sourcing methodologies and supplier partner evaluation processes where appropriate.
This helps customers access procurement solutions that are not only operationally effective but also aligned with customer values and broader public sector objectives. It also reflects the growing expectation that procurement should help advance sustainability, accountability, transparency, and inclusion across the supply chain.
By integrating these priorities into strategic sourcing, the team helps support more forward-looking and responsible procurement outcomes.
Read How OECM was Featured in Corporate Knights for ESGI Leadership in Public Procurement
A Team Driving Excellence
OECM’s Strategic Sourcing Team is more than a group of procurement professionals. They are trusted partners, problem-solvers, and advisors who help public sector organizations navigate complexity, reduce risk, and achieve better procurement outcomes.
Through collaboration, continuous improvement, and a deep understanding of the procurement landscape, the team helps deliver results that support efficiency, accountability, resilience, and long-term value across Ontario’s public and broader public sector.
With a wide range of procurement initiatives and agreements currently underway, including Elevating Device Repair and Maintenance Services, Engineering Inspection Services, Vending Services, and more, the team continues to help strengthen public procurement across the province.
