The Ontario government has released new guidelines for hiring consultants. All consulting contracts will now be subject to a competitive hiring process and consultants may no longer bill the government for hospitality, food expenses or incidental costs.

The new guidelines apply broadly and affect all consultants, all contracts regardless of dollar value, and all Ontario ministries and agencies.

Under the old rules, contracts valued under $25,000 were not subject to a competitive hiring process. Now, contracts valued at less than $100,000 must use either an invitational competitive process with a minimum of three qualified vendors or an open competitive process. Contracts valued over $100,000 must all use an open competitive process.

Exceptions may only be made in a limited set of circumstances including:

  • unforeseen urgency;
  • confidential/privileged nature;
  • security/protection of human, animal, or plant life or health;
  • absence of any bids in response to an open tendering process; and
  • where only one supplier is able to meet requirements due to compatibility with existing products or statutory monopolies.

Any of the above exceptions relating to a Ministry contract or a contract from a classified agency without operational independence (i.e., adjudicative, regulatory, and advisory agencies) must be approved by the relevant Minister.

Exceptions relating to a contract from a classified agency with operational independence (i.e., operational services, operational enterprises, Crown foundations and trusts) or a non-classified entity (i.e., entities where the government appoints the Chair/CEO but not the majority of board members) only require Minister approval where the dollar value is greater than $100,000.

Consultants will still be able to bill for travel and accommodation expenses that are directly related to an assignment in accordance with the Travel, Meal, and Hospitality Expenses Directive. However, these expenses must be pre-approved.

The government has stated that it will continue to use Vendor of Record (VOR) arrangements as they are established through a competitive process.

McCarthy Tétrault Notes:

Businesses and consultants engaging in contracts with the government or its agencies should be prepared to participate in competitive processes where they may not have been required to in the past. This may also provide opportunities for new entrants to participate in the tendering process and for existing providers of services to expand their dealings through the competitive selection processes. (For tips on how to improve the quality of proposals, read our article on " Responding to RFPs.")

Given the government's sensitivity to incidental expenses on bills, companies that provide services to the government may wish to review their internal billing guidelines and practices.

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