Procurement
Waterfront Toronto procures a host of products and services for a wide range of revitalization projects that vary in scale and complexity.
Waterfront Toronto’s portfolio of projects includes a variety of services which include precinct-wide Master Plans, construction projects, environmental investigations and innovative design competitions geared at reshaping the face of our city’s waterfront.
To implement these large-scale projects, the procurement of several complementary services and smaller components is required to ensure the successful completion of the projects.
Waterfront Toronto also procures goods and services required by the Corporation to ensure effective and efficient operations.
Our Procurement Policy
Given the importance of its mandate and being publicly funded, Waterfront Toronto’s procurement activities strive to meet the highest standards of reasonability, be economically achievable, and support the objectives of fairness, openness, and transparency. Waterfront Toronto conducts its affairs in accordance with the Broader Public Service Procurement Directive and our Procurement Policy is intended to complement the Directive and supplement it with additional guidance. In doing so, Waterfront Toronto opens opportunities to as many qualified and talented firms as possible. Our procurement activities are intended to simultaneously achieve maximum value for the Corporation and its stakeholders, as well as to advance the Corporation’s strategic objectives.
Waterfront Toronto uses a variety of procurement methods, in accordance with the Procurement Policy, encouraging a competitive procurement process while also targeting excellence.
The objectives of Waterfront Toronto's Procurement Policy are to ensure that all goods and services are acquired in accordance with:
- approved procurement processes;
- authorized budgets;
- applicable Contribution Agreements whereby the Corporation receives value for money;
- obtaining goods and services through a fair and competitive procurement process involving reputable vendors;
- evaluation criteria that are applied fairly to assess the merits of competitive submissions; and
- senior management’s accountability.
Read our Procurement Code of Ethics
View our Procurement Policy
Frequently Asked Questions: Process Related
The following is a list of process specific questions.
-
Answer
Waterfront Toronto is responsible for procuring a wide range of goods and services that vary in scale and complexity for each of its projects. These projects include precinct-wide master planning, architecture and construction projects, as well as all the complementary services such as site surveys and investigations or smaller components such as lights, benches and public art, that make the implementation of our large projects possible.
-
Answer
The best way to identify opportunities with Waterfront Toronto is by checking the Opportunities section of our website. Waterfront Toronto uses the public tendering platform, Bonfire to issue all of its opportunities. Links to Bonfire for each open opportunity are available in the Opportunities section of the website.
Advertisements for consulting opportunities, exceeding $100,000.00, can also be found on Merx.
-
Answer
Waterfront Toronto uses various procurement methods to procure goods and services: Tenders, Requests for Proposals (RFP), Requests for Quotations (RFQ), Prequalification Requests (PQ), and Advanced Contract Award Notices (ACANs). The procurement method is determined by considering several factors such as the scope of the project, the project’s magnitude, the project’s complexity and to what extent pricing is a determining factor. For more information, see Section 5.2 – Procurement Methodologies in our Procurement Policy.
-
Answer
Waterfront Toronto selects the successful Vendor through an evaluation process outlined in the RFP documents for each procurement. Typically, Waterfront Toronto considers both technical and financial evaluation criteria to determine the outcome of a procurement.
Frequently Asked Questions: Opportunity Related
The following is a list of some questions we receive related to open opportunities.
-
Answer
Please check the “Awarded Contracts” section of this website.
-
Answer
No. While the procurement is in-market, it is imperative that communication protocols indicated in each procurement opportunity are followed and adhered to. Participants are to submit questions through Waterfront Toronto’s Bonfire Portal website, or however indicated in the respective RFx, to the Waterfront Toronto Procurement Manager, indicated in the Enquiries section of the procurement document. Any questions related to a specific opportunity submitted after the Question Deadline indicated in the RFx document, should be submitted to procurement@waterfrontoronto.ca to the attention of the appropriate Procurement Manager. Participants should include the procurement number and title of the opportunity in the subject. Participants are prohibited from communicating with any other Waterfront Toronto staff member, consultant, or Board member during the blackout period, at the risk of disqualification.
-
Answer
If a site meeting is going to be held, details are included in the respective RFP document and dates listed in the RFP Timetable.
-
Answer
In general, evaluation teams are comprised of Waterfront Toronto staff members familiar with the project. The names of evaluators are not made public.
-
Answer
Yes. Please email procurement@waterfrontoronto.ca, citing the title and procurement number of the project. The Procurement Manager will coordinate the debrief session and provide the vendor with appropriate feedback.
-
Answer
All RFP documents and associated attachments can be downloaded from Waterfront Toronto’s Bonfire Portal Website. All opportunities on Waterfront Toronto’s website have links to the opportunity posted in Bonfire.
-
Answer
Instructions on how to submit a signed NDA to the Procurement Manager can be found in the respective RFP documents which are available to participants on Bonfire.
-
Answer
Waterfront Toronto does not have a vendor list to notify vendors of opportunities. Vendors can register as a vendor with Bonfire and receive notifications when new opportunities are released.
-
Answer
Waterfront Toronto will accept proposals submitted via Bonfire or however indicated in the RFP.
-
Answer
In accordance with Waterfront Toronto’s Procurement Policy, all opportunities valued over $100,000.00 are available on Bonfire portal. Second Stage opportunities, related to a specific Vendor of Record and Pre-Qualifications, are made available to participants as indicated in the Vendor of Record documents.
