Purchasing
Doing business with Georgian
As a service department, the procurement team conducts procurement activities across the college. We strive to be a strategic partner and provide our expertise on acquisition, negotiation, contract management, trade and legal compliance and supply chain risk mitigation to all the campuses and departments at Georgian. We generate value through collaboration with local government agencies, colleges and government purchasing organizations.
How to do business with Georgian
Procurement Services seeks the best value and invites competitive prices whenever practical. We assist the Georgian community with the procurement process of all goods and services and ensure that we are fair, open and transparent.
In accordance with public policy and provincial requirements, calls for competitive procurement 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, Georgian posts all bidding opportunities on our Bonfire public purchasing portal.
To become an approved vendor for a particular good or service, vendors are required to respond to an open competition, comply with the mandatory requirements, and be successful in the evaluation process. The evaluation process will vary from one competition to another, as appropriate.
If you are not an approved vendor, this does not exclude your company from doing business with Georgian. It is possible we may have requirements that may not be met by current approved vendors, allowing all vendors to be considered. We encourage vendors to register on our Bonfire public purchasing portal as an interested vendor and continually check our bidding opportunities that may arise throughout the year.
Please note, the college does not accept unsolicited bids, e.g. quotes, from suppliers.
Who Georgian does business with
Georgian College utilizes various collaborative contract agreements to establish vendors of record (VORs) or generate contracts.
Examples of collaborative contract agreements Georgian utilizes include:
- Ontario Ministry of Government Services (MGS)
- Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (OECM)
- Georgian Bay Area Public Purchasing Cooperative (GBAPPC)
- Soucrewell
- Kinetic GPO
- Canoe
- Ontario Colleges Purchasing Managers Association (OCPMA)
- other valid agreements open to the Broader Public Sector (BPS)
Georgian e-sourcing
Current open bidding opportunities can be viewed in our public purchasing portal, powered by Bonfire.
Consult the bidding requirements and submission instructions well ahead of the competition closing date and time, to allow sufficient opportunity for preparing a response and for uploading submission files.
Registering for a new vendor account in Bonfire is highly recommended and very simple. The steps to register include:
- Account creation
- Account confirmation
- Account information
- Commodity codes
For additional support and guidance on how to register, refer to the public portal technical support page or reach out to Bonfire directly.
E-bidding information and tips
Georgian has prepared some items to consider when responding to bidding opportunities.
- Electronic bidding sites typically have resources to guide you through the tools, processes and technical support.
- Return to the electronic bidding website frequently during a bid process for important messages and amendments.
- Ensure all forms are completed in their entirety before uploading.
- Upload the correct document to the corresponding requirement on the electronic bidding website.
- Take into consideration document size restrictions, e.g. word count, page count, file length or type.
- Bid documents always prevail over the electronic bidding website information.
- Ensure you review all instructions and ask for clarity if anything is unclear.
- Responses cannot be submitted through the electronic bidding website after the closing deadline.
Procure to pay
Procure to pay (P2P) is the ability to purchase and pay for goods and services in an electronic environment.
P2P web applications allow Georgian staff to browse online catalogues, add items to a shopping cart and submit a requisition electronically to a vendor. Additionally, capable vendors can then electronically submit the consolidated invoices so that the payment can be quickly processed.
Benefits of P2P implementations include:
- reduced global institutional costs by having structured supplier relationships, eliminating paperwork, and reducing rework and errors;
- better visibility on organizational spend with full reporting on requisitions, items purchased, orders processes and payments made; and
- increased productivity by obtaining the items you want from a catalogue of approved items through an online requisition and ordering system, without the added step of submitting for reimbursement or reconciling your procurement card.
Social procurement
As Canada’s only Ashoka U Changemaker Campus, entrepreneurial outcomes are embedded in everything we do at Georgian – including purchasing.
As part of our commitment to making social innovation a part of our core values, Georgian’s purchasing services team has partnered with Social Enterprise Network of Central Ontario (SENCO) to develop social procurement processes and strategies.
Policies and procedures
Georgian College is subject to compliance, in regards to procurement-related commitments, with statutory laws and trade agreements that govern Ontario and Canada.
Statutory laws
- Ontario Construction Act
- Ontario Broader Public Sector Accountability Act
- Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act
- Competition Act (Canada)
- Ontario Fairness in Procurement Act
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
- Common law
- Administrative law
Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive
The Broader Public Sector (BPS) Procurement Directive ensures that publicly funded goods and services, including construction, consulting services and information technology, are acquired by BPS organizations through a process that is open, fair and transparent. It outlines the responsibilities of BPS organizations throughout each stage of the procurement process to ensure that procurement processes are managed consistently throughout the broader public sector.
Trade agreements
Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
In effect as of July 1, 2017, CFTA is a domestic, inter-provincial trade agreement that replaced the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). CFTA promotes open procurement practices among public sector organizations.
Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
In effect as of Sept. 21, 2017, CETA expands the opportunities for vendors in both the EU and Canada to bid on public procurements. The rules apply only in certain circumstances, namely procurements by a “covered entity” that are in respect of specified goods, services or construction, which exceed certain minimum value thresholds.
Ontario-Quebec Trade and Cooperation Agreement (OQTCA)
In place since September 2015, OQTCA is a bilateral trade agreement between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It has been recently revised to align with the CFTA.
CETA and CFTA thresholds
All amounts in Canadian dollars.
| Procurement type | Ministries and most provincial agencies | Provincial agencies of a commercial or industrial nature | Municipalities, school boards, or publicly funded academic, health and social services entities | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFTA | Goods | $33,400 | $668,800 | $133,800 |
| Services | $133,800 | $668,800 | $133,800 | |
| Construction | $133,800 | $6,685,000 | $334,400 | |
| CETA | Goods | $229,600 | $627,200 | $353,300 |
| Services | $229,600 | $627,200 | $353,300 | |
| Construction | $8,800,000 | $8,800,000 | $8,800,000 |
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
It is recommended that you register as a vendor on Georgian’s Bonfire e-sourcing website to receive notifications about upcoming bid opportunities. Bidders may respond to open opportunities by submitting the required information.
Given the rise in social engineering scams, it is prudent to be careful of who is claiming to make purchases on behalf of the college. Only employees with a valid corporate purchasing card can make a purchase up to $1,000 on behalf of the college.
To protect yourself from potential fraud, payment refusal or payment delays, you should always request a purchase order issued by Georgian’s purchasing services team for any transactions outside this process.
If you suspect fraud, please email purchasing services.
A vendor of record (VOR) is a vendor with whom Georgian College has a formalized relationship for a set of products or services. The purpose of the process is to improve the time required to identify qualified suppliers to a specific need.
If the scope of your service involves physical labour, yes, you will need to have and maintain Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) insurance to work at Georgian College facilities.
To register on Bonfire, suppliers need to provide their contact details, what goods and services they offer, industry commodity codes and identify as a social or private enterprise.
No. Georgian does not charge a fee to obtain bid documents or to submit a bid.
For any support related to Bonfire, e.g. issues with uploading files, difficulty submitting a query, forgotten password, etc., please email the Bonfire support team. Consider attaching a screenshot of the error message or issue you are encountering to fast-track the resolution time.
Social purpose enterprises are businesses that sell goods and services; they embed a social, cultural, or environmental purpose into the business, and they reinvest the majority of profits into their social mission. They provide training, job opportunities and/or procurement opportunities for groups that are identified as under-represented in the workforce or that face challenges to entering the workforce. Suppliers may be asked to provide additional information upon request.
Invoices should be sent by email to accounts payable. Purchase order (PO) numbers should be referenced on the invoice to be paid in a timely manner.
Georgian currently posts any items for sale on GovDeals.
Contact us
Get in touch with the purchasing department
Email: purchasingservices@georgiancollege.ca
Phone: 705.722.5121
One Georgian Dr.
Barrie ON L4M 3X9
Get in touch with the accounting department
Email: accountspayable@georgiancollege.ca
Phone: 705.728.1968
One Georgian Dr.
Barrie ON L4M 3X9