Overseen by the Supply chain Ontario, Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Broader Public Sector (BPS) Procurement Directive sets out procurement rules in the purchase of goods and services with public funds under Ontario's Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010. 

As a major recipient of provincial funding, the University of Guelph is required to be in compliance with the principles and practices contained in the BPS Procurement Directive (Directive).

Purpose

Principles

The Directive is based on the following five key principles that allow Organizations to achieve value for money while following a procurement process that is fair and transparent to all stakeholders:

• Accountability: Organizations must be accountable for the results of their procurement decisions and the appropriateness of the processes.
• Transparency: Organizations must be transparent to all stakeholders. Wherever possible, stakeholders must have equal access to information on procurement opportunities, processes andresults.
• Value for Money: Organizations must maximize the value they receive from the use of public funds. Avalue-for-money approach aims to deliver goods and services at the optimum totallifecycle cost.
• Quality Service Delivery: Front-line services provided by Organizations, such as teaching and patient care, must receive the right product, at the right time, in the right place.
• Process Standardization: Standardized processes remove inefficiencies and create a level playing field.

Procurement Policies and Procedures (Mandatory Requirements)

The following are some of the mandatory requirements in the Directive:

• Organizations must segregate at least three of the five functional procurement roles: Requisition, Budgeting, Commitment, Receipt and Payment. Responsibilities for these roles must lie with different departments or, at a minimum, with different individuals.
• Organizations must establish an approval authority schedule (AAS) for procurement of goods and non-consulting services.
• Organizations must conduct an open competitive procurement process where the estimated value of procurement of goods or services is $100,000 or more.
• Organizations must competitively procure consulting services irrespective of value.
• Prior to commencement, any non-competitive procurement of goods or non-consulting services must be approved by an authority one level higher than the AAS requirements for competitive procurement.
• Prior to commencement, any non-competitive procurement of consulting services (exemption-based only) must be approved by the President or the Board of Directors of an organization.
• Organizations must not reduce the overall value of procurement (e.g., dividing a single procurement into multiple procurements) in order to circumvent the approval requirements of the organizational AAS or the Procurement AAS for Consulting Services.
• Calls for open competitive procurements must be made through an electronic tendering system that is readily accessible by all Canadian suppliers.
• For reporting and auditing purposes, all procurement documentation, as well as any other pertinent information must be retained in a recoverable form for a period of seven years.
• Organizations must monitor any conflict of interest that may arise as a result of the Members’ of the Organization, advisors’, external consultants’, or suppliers’ involvement with the Supply Chain Activities. Individuals involved with the Supply Chain Activities must declare actual or potential conflicts of interest. Where a conflict of interest arises, it must be evaluated and an appropriate mitigating action must be taken.
• Competitive procurement documents must outline bid dispute resolution procedures to ensure that any dispute is handled in an ethical, fair, reasonable, and timely fashion.

The Directive also sets out a number of specific requirements for the procurement of consulting services, the competitive bidding process and contract management. Please refer to the relevant sections under Getting Started with Procurement for further information.