The Ministry recently circulated a notice about Changes to BOBi including updated directives for both the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and the Broader Public Service (BPS)
The effective dates for the updated directives (and links to them) are below:
- OPS Procurement Directive – September 1, 2023
- BPS Procurement Directive – January 1, 2024
All “broader public sector organizations” include:
- a designated broader public sector organization, and
- a publicly funded organization; (“organisme du secteur parapublic”)
The BPS directive:
- sets out requirements to ensure that designated BPS organizations acquire publicly funded goods and services through a process that is open, fair and transparent
- identifies the responsibilities of designated BPS organizations throughout each stage of the procurement process
- promotes consistent procurement processes throughout the BPS
This updated Directive includes additional requirements to support both procurement centralization and the government’s Building Ontario Businesses Initiative (BOBI).
Training on the BOBi strategy, including how public sector buyers can implement the initiatives into procurements, will be offered to OPS and BPS entities. For information about training dates beginning in June, go to the Doing Business with the Ontario Government website.
For more information on these two topics, see Doing Businesses with the Government of Ontario.
Links: The BPS Act – https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/10b25 and BPS Accountability – Broader public sector accountability | ontario.ca