How to Buy - Procurement Services

Competitive Procurement
Planning your Procurement
Procurement Requirements and Approvals

Procurement Services is here to support Carleton faculty, staff, and researchers throughout the entire procurement process. Our team is happy to assist you with any legal and regulatory requirements, policies and procedures, risk management, tendering and contracting.

Faculty and staff should familiarize themselves with the Procurement Policy.

Questions? Email us at procurementservices@carleton.ca

Competitive Procurement

As a Broader Public Sector institution, the University is legally required to engage in competitive procurement. This requirement is outlined in the University’s Procurement policy, Ontario’s Broader Public Sector (BPS) Procurement Directive, and other relevant trade agreements.

Planning your Procurement

There are several key things you need to know to determine how to conduct your Procurement.

Determine the anticipated Total Procurement Value. This will determine the available options for your method of Procurement under the Competitive Procurement rules.
Understand the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act (BOBIA). If your Total Procurement Value is under the Open Competitive procurement threshold, you must apply BOBIA’s requirements to give preference to (an) Ontario Business(es). This is in addition to the Non-competitive and Invitational Competitive Procurement requirements.
Confirm whether there any related policies or processes you need to follow. For example, are you procuring software or Consulting Services? Are you planning to hire an Independent Contractor? Read below for some important considerations.
Decide whether you need support from other stakeholders to define all of your requirements for the goods or services.

Procurement Services is here to help you navigate these questions – contact us early to ensure your timelines can be met.

Evaluating Risk

The Procurement Policy includes a requirement for departments to identify medium- or high-risk procurements. If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you may be required to complete additional processes before committing to your Vendor, and you should contact Procurement Services as soon as possible to ensure adequate planning time. Questions about evaluating risk or general insurance requirements related to a procurement? Contact Risk@carleton.ca.

Topic	Risk Assessment Question	Resource
University Data	Will your procurement result in sharing or transmitting University data, including research and student data, through third-party service providers or cloud services?	See our Software Purchases and Software Licensing page.
IT Infrastructure Access	Will your Vendor(s) or other third-party services require access to the University’s technological infrastructure or environment, either directly or indirectly?	See our Software Purchases and Software Licensing page.
Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance	Will credit cards be accepted as a form of payment through the good or service?	Any purchase that will facilitate acceptance of credit card payments must adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Carleton University has one vendor of choice for processing credit/debit card transactions. All payment solutions must use this vendor for financial transaction processing. Contact PCICompliance@cunet.carleton.ca early to ensure you are incorporating all PCI requirements in your procurement process.
Environmental Health & Safety	Does your procurement present a potential Environmental Health & Safety concern? For example, your purchase: is or includes procurement of a controlled good or laser; is a biological concern including live animals; may produce hazardous waste; requires certain electrical standards to be met; is or contains radioactive materials; is or contains controlled drugs or narcotics (including for research purposes); or is or contains high hazard chemicals.	See our Protocols and Considerations information.
Construction and Renovation	Does the good or service involve the engagement of a professional Architect or Engineer, construction, renovation or modification of university property, including office interiors?	Follow the Project Request Process through Planning, Design and Construction (FMP).
Terms and Conditions	Are the university’s Standard Terms and Conditions (included in all eShop Purchase Orders) insufficient for the level of risk involved, or has your Vendor included their own Terms and Conditions (ex: Customer Agreement, Service Agreement) as part of their quote?	Contact ProcurementServices@carleton.ca for support.

Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (ESG) Procurement Considerations

Carleton University recognizes the importance of both Accessible Procurement and Sustainable Procurement for purchases of all sizes. For more information, please see the Procurement policy.

Independent Contractors

Any time you engage an Independent Contractor as a result of your procurement process, you must complete the Independent Contractor Questionnaire in eShop in addition to adhering to the Procurement Policy.

Procurement Requirements and Approvals

Total Procurement Value

Total Procurement Value is the complete anticipated financial expense (excluding taxes) over the life of the commitment for your goods or services, including optional renewal periods, if applicable. For example, if you plan to procure services that will span a term of five years at $50,000 per year, your Total Procurement Value is $250,000.

Note that departments should consider any additional costs (e.g. taxes) when preparing annual forecasts and/or budgets.

Consulting Services

Consulting Services means the provision of expertise or strategic advice that is presented for consideration and decision-making. This is different from the definition for Professional Services, which means the engagement of a person or entity retained under a fee-for-service arrangement to perform specific tasks under a client’s direction for a limited period. Examples of Consulting Services include management consultants and policy consultants.

All non-competitive purchases for the supply of consulting services require the approval of the President or his/her delegated authority. For non-competitive consulting services contracts valued greater than $1,000,000, the approval of the Board of Governors is also required.

If your Total Procurement Value is under the Open Competitive procurement threshold, you must apply the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act’s (BOBIA) requirements to give preference to (an) Ontario Business(es). This is in addition to the requirements for Non-competitive and Invitational Competitive procurements.

Important: Did you know that every Purchase Order created in eShop (the result of an approved Purchase Requisition) references the university’s Standard Terms & Conditions? This is a form of Contract that contains the legal terms that govern all parties’ obligations, rights, and responsibilities. Understanding the Terms of your purchase is an important part of managing the relationship with your vendor(s).

Procurement Type	Total Procurement Value (Before taxes)	Means of Procurement	Approval Required
Non-Competitive	$0.00 – $25,000.00 (excludes Consulting Services)	eShop catalogues, or eShop purchase requisition with a minimum of one quotation attached, or eShop cheque requisition, or No Terms & Conditions are attached to your cheque requisition. This is used for payments where there is no Purchase Order. eCard for on campus purchases, or University Procurement Card (PCard) (up to $10,000.00)	Financial Approval Authority
Invitational Competitive	$25,000.01 – $75,000.00 ($0.00 to $75,000.00 for Consulting Services)	eShop Vendor of Record catalogues, or eShop purchase requisition to an approved Vendor of Record, or eShop purchase requisition with a minimum of two quotations attached.	Above, plus: Manager, Procurement Services for $25,000 and higher.
Invitational Competitive	$75,000.01 – $121,199.99	eShop Vendor of Record catalogues, or eShop purchase requisition to an approved Vendor of Record, or eShop purchase requisition with a minimum of three quotations attached.	As above. The Signing Authorities Policy governs proper signatories on Purchase Contracts at $100,00.00+ in addition to the requirements set out by the Procurement Policy.
Open Competitive	$121,200.00+	Open Competitive Procurement Process	Above, plus: Department Head, and Director, Strategic Procurement
Open Competitive	$500,000.00+	Open Competitive Procurement Process	Above, plus: Associate Vice-President (Financial Services)

*If you think your purchase is a special circumstance where competitive procurement (as defined by the above threshold requirements) is not possible, please refer to the Limited Tendering Exceptions process.

Travel and Expense System

Purchases of goods and services under $10,000, which are in accordance with this Policy and any related policies and for which the means of procurement outlined above are not practical, may be reimbursed through the Travel and Expense system, with the appropriate supporting documentation and one-up approvals.

Vendors of Record

Multiple quotations are not required for purchases valued less than the CETA competitive threshold (Goods and Services) from a Vendor with an approved Vendor of Record contract with the University, unless stipulated otherwise in the administrative directions of the competitive procurement.

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