Ensuring Continued Transparency in the Procurement Process in the Absence of the Bid Award Panel

This report responds to City Council's direction through Item 2025.GG20.10 to ensure continued transparency in the procurement process in the absence of the Bid Award Panel. It also seeks approval to make administrative amendments to the Financial Control By-law to support this transition and support the City Manager's sub-delegation of commitment authority. Purchasing and Materials Management Division, in collaboration with the Technology Services Division and Strategic Public and Employee Communications, will be introducing enhancements to the City's Toronto Bids Portal, which is a public database of open competitive solicitations and awarded open competitive and non-competitive contracts valued over $133,800. This threshold aligns with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement requirement for public sector entities such as the City of Toronto to publicly post all covered procurements and their resulting awards. New system enhancements will allow Purchasing and Materials Management Division to share procurement award data with Members of Council, suppliers and the public in a way that is comparable to how that information is currently available through the Toronto Meeting Management Information System. the public. A new subscription-based notification feature will allow Council Members, suppliers and to sign up for email updates on newly posted procurement awards on the Toronto Bids Portal. Award information for open competitive procurements will be searchable using the following fields: - Ward: (New field) Indicates the City of Toronto ward(s) where the project will be primarily located or where services will be delivered. - Posting Title: Title of the solicitation. - Document Number: Unique SAP Ariba identifier assigned to the solicitation document for tracking and reference. - Solicitation Type: Indicates the procurement method for the solicitation, such as Request for Proposals, Request for Quotations and Request for Tenders. - High Level Category: Groups the goods or services being procured into the following categories: Goods and Services, Professional Services, and Construction Services. - Awarded Supplier: Name(s) of the supplier(s) that were awarded the contract. - Awarded Amount: Total contract amount for each Awarded Supplier, excluding option years. - Division: Name of the City Division requesting the solicitation. The contract will be between the Awarded Supplier(s) and this Division. - Award Date: The date that the solicitation was approved by the Chief Procurement Officer, Standing Committee or Council, subject to execution of the contract. Selecting an individual record will display the above-noted information, along with access to an Award Summary Form. This Award Summary Form will list all bidders and, where applicable, their bid prices, as well as provide a breakdown of the total award value by initial contract value and option years, when an award includes option years. For suppliers and individuals who are not subscribed for notifications, the Toronto Bids Portal is available on the City's "Doing Business with the City" webpage. In addition to the Toronto Bids Portal system enhancements, the link to the portal will be moved to a more prominent location on the "Doing Business with the City" landing page. The Records Retention Schedule of Municipal Code Chapter 217, Records, Corporate (City), sets out the requirement for records relating to the procurement and acquisition of goods and services to be retained until the termination or expiry of the contract, plus seven years. Records are maintained internally for this duration and are accessible on request to Members of Council and through Freedom of Information Requests to suppliers and the public. Contract award information is currently retained publicly in the Toronto Bids Portal for 18 months. The Open Data Portal also contains a record of contract awards posted in the Toronto Bids Portal, including those older than 18 months, starting from February 2024, when the Toronto Bids Portal launched. Older award data will be made available in separate datasets in the Open Data Portal. Downloadable datasets will be available in the Open Data Portal. A link to the Open Data Portal will be added to the Toronto Bids Portal to direct users to this alternate format. The enhancements in the Toronto Bids Portal described above align with broader modernization objectives, including reducing administrative burden and improving access to procurement information for Members of Council, suppliers, and the public.