September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a time to honour Survivors of residential schools, remember the children who never returned home, and reflect on the ongoing journey toward reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. As an association serving public procurement professionals across Canada, OPBA recognizes that reconciliation is an ongoing […]
Read more »Last Month’s Category: Procurement Dictionary As a reminder, last month’s question was:Which of the following best describes the legal process where one party to an agreement is replaced by another party, with the consent of all parties involved, transferring both the rights and obligations under the contract while releasing the original party from future responsibility? The correct […]
Read more »By Victoria Mirlocca, Manager, Procurement Services, City of Mississauga I opened my inbox to find seventeen new emails about a procurement process that, apparently, everyone now has an opinion on. There were comments on the evaluation criteria, terms and conditions, timelines and the process itself. Tuesday, 8:14 a.m.I opened my inbox to find seventeen new emails […]
Read more »By: Vakul Arora- MCIPS (Chartered), CSCMP, SCMP Senior Manager, Procurement and Supply, City of London The City of London is reshaping procurement as a core public trust function-one that protects public funds, enables timely service delivery, strengthens institutional confidence, and creates measurable civic value. Over the past year, the City is undertaking one of the most significant […]
Read more »By Katie Walton, Purchasing Agent, City of Barrie As procurement professionals, we are often responsible for a procurement from start to finish, from identifying the needs of the department and running the solicitation to monitoring performance once the contract is awarded. When multiple procurements and competing stakeholder deadlines are added to the mix, it is easy […]
Read more »By Robin Friefield-Hudson, City of Mississauga What Is Indemnity? Indemnity is a legal or financial commitment by one party to compensate another party for specified losses, damages, liabilities, or costs. In practical terms, it is a risk-transfer mechanism: the party best positioned to control or manage a particular risk agrees to bear the financial […]
Read more »By Dave Stewart, The District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board and Stephanie Ryynanen, Lakehead District School Board As public procurement continues to navigate the post Covid world, we are faced with more challenges than ever before. Between an ever-changing political landscape that shapes government policy reactions, to the rise of AI, nothing is […]
Read more »By Joseph Adekale, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) As public procurement professionals, we have all been there. A business unit (BU) submits a requisition with a scope of work that reads like a tech manual, a wish list, or a single page of vague bullet points. When we ask to get involved earlier in the drafting process, […]
Read more »By Lise Patry, LXM LAW LLP One of the more surprising things I have recently heard from a litigation lawyer is that a limitation of liability clause in a RFx document is legally worthless. I was involved in a procurement matter where this issue came up. A municipality had run a binding RFQ for […]
Read more »OPBA was pleased to welcome 188 attendees to its 68th Annual Meeting, held virtually on June 25, 2026. Thank you to all members who participated and demonstrated their support by exercising their voting privileges. Board Chair Victoria Mirlocca highlighted another strong year for the association. OPBA membership reached a record 1,101 members at the end of […]
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