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Board Policy #161.0 Purchasing

1. Policy Statement

The York Region District School Board is committed to being accountable, ethical, and fiscally responsible for public funds. All purchases made on behalf of the Board will be made openly and transparently, maximizing value.       

2. Application

The Board adheres to all procurement laws, regulations, rules, acts, trade agreements and the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive to serve the public interest with fair, open, and transparent procurement processes in the acquisition of goods and services. Purchasing decisions will be based on the Total Cost of Ownership method of procurement. Every effort will be made to achieve the best value for money.

All trustees, staff members and agents of the Board are required to comply with the Supply Chain Code of Ethics and abide by the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive policies and procedures, the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), where applicable, when involved with purchasing or related supply chain activities.

2.1 Supply Chain Code of Ethics

All staff members of the York Region District School Board occupy positions of public trust and confidence. They are therefore expected to discharge their duties and responsibilities in a professional and impartial manner.

It is imperative that trustees, staff members or other agents working on behalf of the Board act and be seen to be acting in the best interests of the public when fulfilling their duties on behalf of the Board. All staff members are required to adhere to the Board’s Conflict of Interest policy and procedure and all applicable legislation and government requirements. Staff members, trustees or agents of the Board must not disclose confidential business, personnel or student information or misappropriate Board resources.

3. Responsibilities

3.1 The Board of Trustees is responsible for:

1. reviewing the Purchasing policy in accordance with the priorities in the Multi-Year Plan and the approved policy review cycle; and

2. understanding and communicating with members of the community about the Purchasing policy, as required.

3.2 The Director of Education is responsible for:

1. implementing and operationalizing the Purchasing policy.

4. Definitions

4.1 Total Cost of Ownership

The direct and indirect costs associated with a specific product, service, or operation over its entire life cycle. This may include, but is not limited to, consideration of all costs, including acquisition, delivery, installation, removal, operating and disposal costs rather than solely the lowest price bid received.

5. Contact

Purchasing Services

6. History

Approved: January 1985, March 2003, April 2009

Working Document: November 2014, July 2018

Revised: 2010, June 2013, June 2015, June 2015, May 2019, November 2023

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Board Procedure #161.1 Purchasing

1. Procedure Statement

This procedure outlines how staff members acquire goods and services for use in schools/departments in accordance with all applicable Board policies and procedures, federal and provincial laws, acts, regulations, trade agreements and the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. These requirements for competitive procurement and contracting balance numerous objectives, including accountability, fairness, transparency, value, effective, and high-quality service delivery.

2. Application

The procedure for the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement(CETA) is outlined in the Purchasing Process for CFTA and CETA Guideline.

2.1 Segregation of Duties

Prevents any one person from controlling the entire procurement process by segregating approvals for the key stages of the procurement process. Effective control in an organization includes segregation of duties across functions and individuals.

Staff members cannot independently acquire goods and services without prior approval.

The Board shall segregate at least three of the following five functional roles;

• ordering,

• budget checking,

• issue of purchase orders/contracts/letters of intent,

• receiving, and

• payment.

In the Board, requisition creation is typically performed by the school or department. The requisition is then approved according to the Purchasing Requisitions: Approval Amounts document and then forwarded to Purchasing Services for purchase order creation. Receiving is often done by the school or department. Accounting Services is responsible for appropriate payment of invoices associated with the purchase order.

2.2 Approval (Signing) Authority

All procurement of goods and services must be approved in accordance with the Approval Authority Schedule outlined in the Purchasing Requisitions: Approval Amounts document.

2.3 Procurement Thresholds

Purchases of goods and services on behalf of the Board shall be made in the following manner, depending on the cost.

The overall value of procurement cannot be reduced, such as dividing a single procurement into multiple procurements, to circumvent the procurement threshold requirements and approval requirements.

a) < $10,000

Purchasing Services will complete a competitive bid process (request for quote RFQ) to obtain a minimum of three competitive bids.

b) $10,001 up to but not including $121,200

Purchasing Services will complete a competitive bid process (Request for proposal RFP, Request for quote RFQ, or Request for Tender RFT) to obtain a minimum of three competitive bids.

c) $121,200 or more

Purchasing Services will complete a competitive bid process and post the R/RFT/RFQ to a recognized public tendering website to obtain a minimum of three competitive bids. .

2.4 Posting Competitive Procurement Documents

The Board shall post all competitive procurements over $121,000.00 on a public tendering network.

2.5 Non-Competitive Procurement

The Board employs a competitive procurement process to achieve optimum value for money. It is recognized, however, that exceptional circumstances may require the Board to use non-competitive procurement.

The Board may only be exempt from competitive procurement in situations outlined in the exemption, exception, or non-application clauses of the CFTA, CETA or other trade agreements.

Non-competitive procurement includes limited tendering.

Before non-competitive procurement begins, the Limited Tendering form for any acquisition of goods and services exceeding $10,000 must be completed and submitted to Purchasing Services before the purchase is made. Any acquisition exceeding $10,000 will require approval by the Chief Financial Officer. Purchasing Services will research and determine eligibility.

2.6 Purchasing Cooperatives

The Board may enter into cooperative purchasing agreements with other public bodies. In such cases, the Board may accept pricing obtained by other public bodies and will not be required to solicit independent pricing quotations or tenders.

2.7 Non-Discrimination

The Board must not discriminate or exercise preferential treatment in awarding a contract to a vendor/contractor as a result of a competitive procurement process.

2.8 Exclusion of Proponents

If there is supporting evidence, the Board may exclude a Bidder from participating in a procurement on grounds such as:

1. bankruptcy or insolvency;

2. false declarations;

3. significant or persistent deficiencies in performance of any substantive requirement or obligation under a prior contract or contracts;

4. final judgments in respect of serious crimes or other serious offences;

5. professional misconduct or acts or omissions that adversely reflect on the commercial integrity of the supplier; or

6. failure to pay taxes.

2.9 Vendor or Consultant Performance

In instances where poor, unacceptable or unsatisfactory performance by a vendor or consultant has been experienced, the following steps are recommended.

1. a staff member will complete and forward the Vendor Incident Report to the Manager of Purchasing Services;

2. the Manager of Purchasing Services will engage the appropriate individuals to gather information in preparation for communicating the concern to the vendor in question;

3. depending on the incident, Purchasing Services will bring the concern(s) to the vendor’s attention;

4. vendors will be given the opportunity to respond to the concern and remedy the deficiency in an agreed-upon time period, when required;

5. during this period of remedy, the Board may put the vendor “On Notice” and may temporarily suspend the vendor’s bidding privileges; 

6. should the vendor fail to meet the agreed upon requirements in the time allotted, it may result in the cancellation/termination of the contract and further suspension bidding privileges for an indeterminate amount of time; and

7. if the vendor has been given one prior notice, the giving of a second notice, whether the notices relate to the same default or delay or arise from separate situations, may result in the immediate termination of the contract and suspension of bidding privileges to the Board for an indeterminate amount of time.

2.10 Contractor Performance

Contractors perform work for or provide services to the Board. The quality of their work is critical to the success of the project and directly affects the environment in which students and staff members learn and work. Compliance with Occupational Health and Safety rules, codes and regulations, and Board policies and procedures, where applicable, is critical to ensuring a safe environment.

Work performed on behalf of the Board is reviewed by staff members. A list of projects performed throughout the year is compiled and the contractor’s performance is scored.

The following action is recommended when scores indicating poor, unacceptable or unsatisfactory performance are identified:

• The Contractor Performance Report is completed and forwarded to the department manager.

• The department manager will discuss the performance score with Purchasing Services to determine appropriate next steps.

• If the contractor scores poorly, and depending on the nature of the concern, Purchasing Services will bring the concern(s) to the attention of the vendor;

• Contractors will be given the opportunity to respond to the concern and remedy the deficiency in an agreed-to time period, when required.

• Contractors may be asked to identify the changes they will make to prevent re-occurrence.

• During this period of remedy the Board may put the vendor “On Notice” and may temporarily suspend the vendor’s bidding privileges.

• Should the contractor fail to meet the agreed upon requirements in the time allotted, it may result in the cancellation/termination of the contract and further suspension of bidding privileges for an indeterminate amount of time.

• If the contractor has been given one prior notice, the giving of a second notice, whether the notice relates to the same default or arises from separate situations, may result in the immediate termination of the contract and suspension of bidding privileges for an indeterminate amount of time. If the issues are sufficiently detrimental to the Board, the contractor may be notified that they have been removed from the list of contractors to be invited to bid on future projects.

• At the same time as Plant Services is reviewing the performance of the prequalified contractors on projects, Purchasing Services will perform an annual review of the responsiveness and competitiveness of all contractors in bidding situations. If a contractor is found to be unresponsive to bid calls or to be consistently uncompetitive when bidding, the Board will discuss the situation with the contractor and may suspend bidding privileges for an indeterminate period of time, or may remove the contractor from the prequalified list of bidders.

• Poor service by a contractor will result in a meeting with Board representatives at the conclusion of the project to discuss the concerns and determine how to move forward. In some instances, the Board may temporarily suspend their bidding privileges for an indeterminate period of time.

Departmental staff members reserve the right to audit the work of any contractor or consultant at any time without notice.

2.11 Contractor and Consultant Performance - On-going Service Work

A list of service contracts is compiled and the associated contractors who are performing the ongoing work are identified. Departmental staff members are responsible for completing several unannounced audits based on a pre-determined proportion of visits as outlined in the contract.

The type of items that will be reviewed during site visits will vary depending on the work being performed and include, but are not limited to:

• sign-in protocol,

• comparison of work performed versus the scope of work given,

• quality of work performed,

• adherence to Health and Safety procedures,

• scheduling of work,

• response to repairs,

• accuracy of invoicing, and

• communication.

Should any of the work performed by a contractor be found to be substantially deficient, whether officially audited or not, the Board will contact the contractor to discuss concerns. The contractor will be given seven calendar days to respond to and correct the identified concerns. Should the contractor be unable or unwilling to correct the concerns to the satisfaction of the Board, they will be notified that they are being removed from the Board’s approved and/or pre-qualified list of contractors, which would result in permanent revocation of bidding privileges to the Board, as set out above under “Exclusion of Proponents”. The contractor has the opportunity to meet with Board representatives to discuss their removal from the approved/pre-qualified list(s). During this meeting, the contractor must provide sufficient assurances to the Board that they will be able to perform the work as required. If there continue to be concerns regarding the services provided by the contractor, at the sole discretion of the Board, the contractor will be permanently removed from any Board list of contractors.

2.12 Dispute Resolution

Should any contractor wish to contest their removal from the Board’s approved/pre-qualified lists, they will be required to address any concerns with Purchasing Services and applicable departmental and/or managerial staff members, as required.

3. Responsibilities

3.1 The Director of Education shall:

1. allocate staff and resources to support the Purchasing procedure.

3.2 The Chief Financial Officer shall:

1. oversee purchasing activities in accordance with the Ontario Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive;

2. identify the appropriate level of signing authority for purchases; and

3. identify procurement thresholds for goods, non-consulting services, consulting services and construction in accordance with the Ontario Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive, CFTA, CETA, and other trade agreements.

3.3 Purchasing Services shall:

1. ensure goods and services are acquired from a best value perspective, considering both total cost and life cycle cost; 

2. ensure ethical, efficient, and accountable sourcing of responsive and responsible vendors/contractors;

3. provide vendor, pricing, and product/service information to schools/departments to assist with purchasing/buying decisions;

4. consider the environmental impact of all purchasing recommendations;

5. advise schools and departments on the best method to satisfy their purchasing needs such as, but not limited to, purchase request, purchasing card or petty cash;

6. encourage the use of purchase orders for purchases over $100;

7. verify all relevant information such as, but not limited to, quantity, description, price and vendor name, and appropriate signing authorities, is in place on electronic requisitions sent by schools or departments;

8. review for accuracy and process school and department electronic requests into purchase orders which will be sent to approved or contracted vendor/supplier/contractor;

9. send copies of purchase orders to school email accounts once orders are processed in Purchasing Services;

10. manage and maintain a General Supplies Ordering System with contracted vendors; 

11. facilitate the process to approve and/or pre-qualify contractors;

12. determine method of purchase, such as, but not limited to, quotes, tender, request for proposal; 

13. facilitate a Request for Information (RFI), if required, to gather information in situations when there is a lack of information about the ability of the market to deliver the required goods and services;

14. use various criteria in evaluating;

15. Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requirements when developing competitive bids;

16. facilitate and obtain a minimum of three competitive bids, where possible, for any individual purchase or combined purchases that exceed $10,000;

17. advertise and post acquisitions valued at $100,000 or more to an officially recognized electronic tendering network for a minimum of 15 calendar days, unless a shorter time period is required in the circumstances and is permissible under any applicable trade agreements;

18. post award notifications to the officially recognized electronic tendering network for awards of $100,000 or more;

19. assist with the development of specifications, scope of work and manage and facilitate the entire bid process for all formal competitive bids to ensure best value, fairness, and accountability;

20. advise schools and/or departments as to best value goods/services or options of better value alternatives and purchase from a vendor with whom, in their judgement, it is in the best interests of the Board to do business;

21. administer the contract from user need through to the environmentally responsible disposal of goods, including handling of disputes and/or performance issues;

22. participate in the development, writing, vetting and negotiation of all contracts arranged with vendors and/or contractors;

23. manage and develop positive working relationships with vendors and contractors;

24. review, analyze, assess, and mitigate risk for all purchasing activities;

25. assess the economic and social environment to determine any impact on the planned procurement;

26. identify any perceived or real conflicts of interest and ensure adherence of the Board Conflict of Interest policy and procedure;

27. participate in any purchasing cooperatives for the acquisition of goods and services when in the best interest of the Board; and

28. participate in the disposition of surplus Board assets.

3.4 Accounting Services shall:

1. ensure proper authorization has been provided on receiving documents;

2. make sure the invoice total is correct by matching it to a corresponding purchase order;

3. contact the vendor and/or buyer for verification if an invoice total does not match the corresponding purchase order;

4. follow-up with a vendor where there has been an overcharge for credit; 

5. not pay an over-charged invoice until all outstanding issues have been resolved; and

6. identify any perceived or real conflict of interest situation and ensure adherence to the Conflict of Interest policy and procedure.

3.5 Superintendents shall:

1. approve purchase requests in accordance with the Board signing authority;

2. support principals and managers in the implementation of the Purchasing procedure;

3. approve purchasing card expenditures of principals and any other staff members under their direct supervision; and

4. identify any perceived or real conflict of interest situation and ensure adherence to the Board Conflict of Interest policy and procedure.

3.6 Principals or Managers shall:

1. contact Purchasing Services to ensure adherence to this policy/procedure and related Board processes in the acquisition of specific goods and/or services;

2. engage Purchasing Services when in need of goods and/or services keeping in mind that competitive bids will be required for all non-contract acquisitions over $10,000; 

3. be held accountable for all purchase acquisitions of goods/services initiated and received by their office, including purchases made by delegating authority to another staff member, on behalf of the Board, for the sole use within the Board system;

4. ensure that purchases using school-generated funds including school council, student council or other fundraising funds adhere to this policy and procedure;

5. ensure that a process is in place for ordering and approving payment for goods and services received;

6. designate a person responsible for school and/or department purchases;

7. ensure that expenditures are maintained within the approved budget;

8. ensure that requisitions exceeding their approval authority are forwarded to the superintendent for authorization;

9. approve purchasing card expenditures of any staff members under direct supervision; and

10. ensure year-end closing is completed as instructed by Business Services.

3.7 Staff members responsible for school and/or department purchasing shall:

1. use the appropriate acquisition tools to purchase goods and/or services such as purchase orders, contract release forms and purchasing cards;

2. ensure that all purchases are approved by the principal or manager;

3. understand that a purchase request is to be used to order any goods or services not available through the General Supply Ordering System;

4. ensure that requisition numbers are not provided to vendors;

5. ensure that items coming from outside Canada are ordered via the NAV Financial System to establish proper customs clearance through the Board's customs broker;

6. acknowledge receipt of goods and/or partial receipt of goods by creating an electronic receiving report and forwarding to Accounting Services for payment;

7. understand that delayed acknowledgement for receipt of goods may result in overdue payment fees or interest charges to the school and/or department general ledger account;

8. understand that if a school or department does not report receipt of goods and/or services, then the invoices cannot be paid; 

9. forward invoices received for goods and/or services directly to Accounting Services, unless payment is made from petty cash or school generated funds; 

10. notify Purchasing and/or Accounting Services when there is a discrepancy between the purchase order and the invoice amount;

11. notify Purchasing and Accounting Services in a timely manner if there is a need to cancel an order or return items for credit;

12. understand that vendors may charge a re-stocking fee on returned items;

13. advise Purchasing Services when the quantity of goods received is less than the quantity ordered, and the remainder is not shown on the packing slip as a "back-order"; and

14. advise Purchasing Services when the quantity of goods received is greater than the quantity ordered.

3.8 All staff members shall:

1. adhere to the Ontario Broader Public Sector Supply Chain Code of Ethics;

2. ensure that all purchases made on behalf of the Board are approved in accordance with Board policy and procedure; 

3. authorize purchases in accordance with the Signing Authorities and the Purchasing Requisitions: Approval Amounts documents, where applicable;

4. contact their principal and/or manager to order goods and/or services to ensure adherence to this policy/procedure and Board processes in the selection of specific goods and/or services;

5. refer to NAV Requisition and Financial System User Guide;  

6. understand that the Board does not take any responsibility for items purchased by any staff member who verbally or in writing authorizes a vendor to provide the school and/or department with the goods and/or services before dispatching the official Board purchase methods; 

7. be aware that purchases using school-generated funds including student council or other fundraising funds must adhere to this policy and procedure;

8. understand that Purchasing Services will only send copies of purchase orders to school email accounts once they have been processed by Purchasing Services;

9. immediately notify the principal or manager if there is a need to cancel an order or return items for credit; 

10. understand that vendors may charge a re-stocking fee on returned items;

11. immediately notify the principal or manager when the quantity of goods received is less than the quantity ordered, and the remainder is NOT shown on the packing slip as a "back-order"; 

12. immediately notify the principal or manger when the quantity of goods received is greater than the quantity ordered;

13. review goods upon receipt to ensure packaging and contents are intact;

14. if packaging or goods received are damaged, write "DAMAGED" on the bill of lading and sign for the goods;

15. if goods are received and the damage is not apparent until the package is opened, immediately contact Purchasing Services, and keep all original packaging; 

16. ensure that goods and services are purchased in accordance with the Purchasing procedure, as well as the specific processes developed and communicated by Purchasing Services; and 

17. ensure that purchases of Tangible Capital Assets (TCA) are charged to appropriate TCA accounts;and

18. identify any perceived or real conflict of interest and ensure adherence to the Board’s Conflict of Interest policy and procedure.

3.9 School Councils shall:

1. adhere to the Ontario Broader Public Sector Supply Chain Code of Ethics;

2. ensure that all purchases made on behalf of the Board are approved in accordance with Board policy and procedure;

3. authorize purchases in accordance with the Signing Authorities and the Purchasing Requisitions:  Approval Amounts documents, where applicable;

4. ensure that all purchases made, adhere to all Board policies and procedures;

5. comply with the Supply Chain Code of Ethicsand abide by the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive policies and procedures, the CFTA and the CETA where applicable when involved with purchasing or related supply chain activities;

6. understand that purchases should be made through the school principal so that the request can be submitted and tracked in the Board’s NAV Financial;

7. contact their principal or designated representative for ordering all goods and/or services; and

8. understand that the Board will not take any responsibility for items purchased by any school council member who verbally or in writing authorizes a vendor to provide the school with the goods and/or services before dispatching the official Board purchase order.

5. Contact

Purchasing Services  

5. History

Approved: January 1985, April 2009

Working Document: November 2014, July 2018

Revised: 2010, June 2015, May 2019, November 2023

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Board Procedure #161.2 Purchasing Cards

1. Procedure Statement

This procedure outlines how staff members are to use the purchasing cards (PCards) to make small dollar value purchases more efficient and cost effective without eroding good business practices or circumventing internal controls, or to accommodate purchases with a vendor that may not accept other forms of payment.

2. Responsibilities

2.1 The Director of Education shall:

1. allocate staff and resources to support the Purchasing Cards procedure.

2.2 The Purchasing Card Co-ordinator shall:

1. maintain the cardholders monthly credit limits, account numbers, location changes, and cancellations;

2. monitor all of the purchasing card program activities; and

3. review monthly reports and transactions to ensure compliance with Board procedure.

    

2.3 Accounting Services shall:

1. pay the monthly summary of purchasing card statements; and

2. charge the applicable budget for purchases.

    

2.4 Quality Assurance shall:

1. conduct random audits of the cardholders transaction log-statement and receipts to ensure adherence to Board policies and procedures.

    

2.5 Superintendents, Principals and Managers shall:

1. understand that their signature indicates that all charges for the cardholder(s) under their supervision have been reviewed and approved and that such charges are following Board policies and procedures;

2. delegate the signing for purchasing card charges, in part or in whole, does not absolve of their responsibility of ensuring that all charges are appropriate and in compliance with Board policies and procedures;

3. review and approve the purchasing card application for staff members under their supervision;

4. review and authorize purchasing card account changes for staff transfers;

5. set the cardholder’s monthly limit;

6. review the cardholder’s monthly activity statement and the original receipts; 

7. approve compliant transactions and sign the transaction envelope;

8. ensure that the original transaction log envelope with original itemized receipts is retained by the school or department for a minimum of seven years;

9. understand if purchasing card changes are delegated to administrative staff, the superintendent, principal, or manager must approve and be copied on all email change requests; and

10. ensure that Purchasing Services is advised if a cardholder’s employment with the Board ends, or the employee goes on leave or changes work location.

2.6 Cardholders shall:

1. maintain the purchasing card with appropriate security, and notify the bank and Purchasing Services if the card has been lost, stolen, or compromised;

2. adhere to the information contained in the Purchasing Card Rules and Reminders document;

3. inform Purchasing Services if their employment with the Board ends, or if they are going on leave or changing work locations; 

4. obtain original, itemized receipts for all purchases;

5. reconcile the original receipts to the monthly purchasing card statement;

6. identify any discrepancies appearing on the statement and immediately take appropriate action with the vendor, Purchasing Services, or the bank to resolve the problem;

7. submit the transaction log envelope to their principal/manager for review and approval;

8. maintain proper accounting of their purchasing card receipts and the monthly card statement;

9. not allow another person to use the purchasing card; 

10. assist with periodic audits of purchasing card records, when required; and

11. not use the purchasing card for personal use.

3. Definitions

3.1 Audit

A review of the cardholders' monthly purchasing card statement, transactions and receipts to ensure adherence to all Board policies and procedures.

3.2 Board-approved Vendor

A supplier of goods and services that the Board has agreed meets its standards in terms of quality, price, health and safety, warranties and return privileges and is authorized by the purchasing department to process orders as required.

3.3 Capital item

A single item costing over $500 plus taxes with an anticipated life span of three years or more.

3.4 Monthly Purchasing Card Statement

The bank’s monthly statement of the cardholders’ purchase transactions.

3.5 Monthly Credit Limit

The maximum monthly dollar limit that may be charged to a Purchasing Card.

3.6 Purchasing Card Application

An electronic form completed online by the principal, manager, or delegate via NAV Financial System. Once the application is submitted a copy is automatically sent to the bank, to the principal or manager, and to Purchasing Services.

3.7 Purchasing Card Employee Agreement

A document signed by the cardholder that indicates that the Cardholder has read and understands the Cardholder’s responsibilities and agrees to adhere to the policies and procedures established for the program.

3.8 Purchasing Card Restrictions

Items not to be purchased on the purchasing card, such as gifts, liquor, accommodations, cash advances, travel, entertainment, personal use, or any goods the Board purchases from a contracted or approved vendor. Reference the Purchasing Card Rules and Reminders document for further information regarding restrictions.

3.9 Reconciliation

The maintenance and reconciling of receipts to the bank’s monthly statement.

3.10 Transaction Log Envelope

An envelope used to contain the receipts for all purchases made over the period of a month.

6. Contact

Purchasing Services 

7. History

Approved: March 2003, April 2009

Working Document: November 2014, July 2018

Revised: 2010, June 2013, June 2015, May 2019, November 2023