How to do Business with York | Strategic Procurement Services

In accordance with public policy and provincial requirements, calls for competitive procurements must be made through an electronic tendering system that is equally accessible to all Canadian vendors. To meet the objective of transparency and openness for all opportunities at the University, York’s competitive bids are posted on the e-tendering site Merx.com.

Bids are posted as the need arises. Vendors are encouraged to visit Merx.com on a regular basis. Bid posting will be available for a minimum of 15 calendar days from the initial posting date. This is to ensure that respondents have sufficient time to prepare a suitable, high-quality response. This will enable York to achieve better value for money.

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Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act (BOBIA) FAQs

If you have any questions relating to the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act (BOBIA), please reach out to purchase@yorku.ca.

The Government of Ontario has legislated that public procurement bodies must privilege Ontario businesses by way of enacting competitive advantages for those businesses in the Procurement process. If you are a non-Ontario business, you are still able to do business with the University. The only difference resulting from these changes is that you would not be able to have that competitive advantage applied to your bid score when submitting a proposal to do work at the University.

BOBIA does not apply to existing contracts. Therefore, there is no change to your existing agreements with York University.

The University will be required to report on BOBIA to the Province and, as such, details of the purchase may also be required. Additionally, in its efforts to streamline BOBIA administrative burdens on you, our vendor and our community, the University is assembling a database of Ontario and non-Ontario vendors who have competed an attestation. While this process is rapidly evolving, it is the hope that the database will minimize the number of attestation requests you receive from York University.

No. While this legislation is new and will require fine tuning, York University is making every effort to keep the administrative burden to a minimum for York staff and our suppliers. York is creating a database of attested vendors that York staff can access to avoid requesting attestation documentation where it has already been provided to York.

The Ontario Government defines an Ontario business as:

A supplier, manufacturer, or distributor that conducts its activities on a permanent basis in Ontario, whether as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or other business structure; and

It either has its headquarters or main office in Ontario or, has at least 250 full-time employees in Ontario at the time of the applicable procurement process.

We are unable to advise any further beyond this scope.

York University will make every effort to ensure prompt payment. We are not anticipating delays to payment terms resulting from BOBIA to complete compliant invoices. However, to avoid potential delays, please complete all forms requested by York University in a timely manner.

The authorized agent can be anyone who is authorized to sign documents on behalf of your organization.

The form is intended for all businesses irrespective of size. The 250 employee condition only applies if your business is not primarily headquartered in Ontario. If you are based in Ontario you can attest that you are indeed an Ontario business.

Yes. The form is intended for all businesses irrespective of size. The 250 employee condition only applies if your business is not primarily headquartered in Ontario. If you are based in Ontario you can attest that you are indeed an Ontario business.

Submitting Bid Proposals

Competitive bid submissions must be delivered as instructed in the competitive bid document. York will not accept or consider Proposal, Tender or Quote submissions received after the noted closing date and time.

Unsuccessful respondents to a competitive bid are entitled to a debriefing, and may request a debriefing meeting up to 60 days following the date of the contract award notification. Debriefing details are specified in the individual competitive bid call document.

Other Ways to Do Business

In April 2022, York University launched a Social Procurement Vendor Portal for diverse-owned businesses, Indigenous-owned businesses and social enterprises. For more information on how to participate in this program, please visit our Social Procurement Vendor Portal.