Purchasing Thresholds & Request to Waive

1. Identify the category that the purchase falls under:
   
   • Goods
   • Services and professional services (non-consulting)
   • Professional services (consulting)
     
     Note that a purchase could involve one, two or all three categories.
2. Identify the requirements and specifications for the purchase. Purchasing Services can assist the Purchaser to refine the requirements and specifications.

1. Estimate the value of the goods, services and/or professional services you’re purchasing. To estimate the procurement value or develop a budget, start by examining the historical spend, where possible.
   
   For assistance with this process, please contact Purchasing Services.
2. Before making your purchase, confirm there is sufficient budget available.

Before making a purchase, confirm whether there is an arrangement in place with a vendor of record for your particular good, service and/or professional service. 

For help making this determination, please contact Purchasing Services.

TMU promotes products and services from Indigenous and and racialized-owned businesses that operate in Canada. Before making a purchase, confirm your opportunities to incorporate social values in your supplier selection criteria.

For assistance, please contact Purchasing Services.

Purchases in this category include any non-consulting good or service from a single supplier for university business.

You’re encouraged to source goods or services yourself if the vendors of record list does not include an appropriate option. Guidance is available from the purchasing team on request.

Process:

1. Assess your needs and source the good or service, ensuring the university receives fair market value.
2. Expedite purchasing and payment by using your TMU Purchasing Card (P-Card); submitting the invoice on the self-service invoicing feature in the Invoice Approval System (MarkView) (opens in new window) ; or using petty cash for purchases up to a daily limit of $100. Please note that P-Card is the preferred means of payment for all purchases under $5,000 and that FIS purchasing (iProcurement) (opens in new window)  should be used only if the above three options are unavailable.

Purchases in this category include any non-consulting good or service that’s required to conduct university business and is supplied by a single vendor. These are one-time only acquisitions.

Process:

1. Assess your needs and source the good or service, ensuring the university receives fair market value.
2. Pay for the good or service with a TMU Purchasing Card (P-Card) or via FIS purchasing (iProcurement) (opens in new window) . Note if using a P-Card, you may need to increase your spend limit by contacting the P-Card administrator at pcardadmin@torontomu.ca.

Purchases in this category fall under the invitational procurement category, which means you’re required to request vendor proposals for your good or service. As negotiations for specific requirements such as delivery, warranties or terms and conditions are often involved in this spend threshold, you may wish to request assistance from Purchasing Services.

Process:

1. Assess your needs and source the good or service, ensuring the university receives fair market value while demonstrating transparency and fairness to all vendors.
2. You’re required to source a minimum of three different vendors.
3. Evaluate the responses and award the contract to the successful bidder.
4. Complete a purchase requisition (PR) and submit through FIS purchasing (iProcurement) (opens in new window)  including all quotes.
5. Purchasing Services will issue a purchase order (PO) and forward it to the vendor along with any supporting documents to the PO. If an agreement or contract is required before the PO can be issued, Purchasing Services will notify you of the additional documents needed.
6. Once you confirm goods are received or services are complete, reference your PO number on the invoice and forward it to poinvoices@torontomu.ca.

In cases where supplier proposals exceed the maximum allowable spend of $120,000 or, if you’re extending a contract or PO resulting in the spend exceeding $120,000, please contact Purchasing Services to discuss next steps.

Internal and external regulatory frameworks require purchases in this category to go to open procurement. This means the purchase must be publicly tendered in a competitive bid process, either in a request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ) or request for supplier qualification (RFSQ).

Process:

1. Once you’ve identified your detailed needs, please contact Purchasing Services to determine the appropriate procurement strategy. We will manage the competitive bidding process on your behalf and serve as the point of contact with vendors to ensure an open, fair and transparent process.
2. We’ll draft and post bid documents, and collect vendor submissions, consistent with requirements of the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive and other applicable trade agreements.
3. We’ll facilitate the proposal evaluation process which will ultimately identify a successful supplier.
4. Upon completion of the evaluation process we will draft, along with TMU Legal Services, an agreement and send to the vendor for execution.

Purchases in this category fall under the invitational procurement category, which means you’re required to request vendor proposals for your good or service. As negotiations for specific requirements such as delivery, warranties or terms and conditions are often involved in this spend threshold, please contact Purchasing Services for assistance.

Process:

1. Assess your needs and source the good or service, ensuring the university receives fair market value while demonstrating transparency and fairness to all vendors.
2. You’re required to source a minimum of three different vendors.
3. Evaluate the responses and if an award is appropriate, award the to the lowest bidder.
4. Submit a purchase requisition (PR) on FIS purchasing (iProcurement) (opens in new window) , including all quotes.
5. Purchasing Services will issue a purchase order (PO) and forward it to the vendor along with any supporting documents to the PO. If an agreement or contract is required before the PO can be issued, Purchasing Services will notify you of the additional documents needed.
6. Once you confirm goods are received or services are complete, reference your PO number on the invoice and forward it to poinvoices@torontomu.ca.

In cases where supplier proposals exceed the maximum allowable spend of $120,000 or, if you’re extending a contract or PO resulting in the spend exceeding $120,000, please contact Purchasing Services to discuss next steps.

Internal and external regulatory frameworks require purchases in this category to go to open procurement. This means the purchase must be publicly tendered in a competitive bid process, either in a request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ) or request for supplier qualification (RFSQ).

Process:

1. Once you’ve identified your detailed needs, please contact Purchasing Services to determine the appropriate procurement strategy. We will manage the competitive bidding process on your behalf and serve as the point of contact with vendors to ensure an open, fair and transparent process.
2. We’ll draft and post bid documents, and collect vendor submissions, consistent with requirements of the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive and other applicable trade agreements.
3. We’ll facilitate the proposal evaluation process which will ultimately identify a successful supplier.
4. Upon completion of the evaluation process we will draft, along with TMU Legal Services, an agreement and send to the vendor for execution.

The purpose of an RFI is to obtain a list of possible services or products needed. This list is used to create and inform a future procurement process.

RFPs are generally required for large, complex projects estimated to have a total cumulative spend of more than $120,000. The RFP is posted on MERX (external link)  to enable suppliers to view and respond with a proposal for pricing, based on the specifications and technical requirements listed in the RFP document.

RFQs are for when the specifications of a product or service are known and price is the main or only factor in selecting the successful bidder.

A request for qualified supplier(s) to respond to a bid posted on MERX for specific goods and/or services, as the first stage in establishing a list of vendors of record for subsequent project work.

A formal document that captures and defines the work activities, deliverables and timeline for a pre-qualified supplier (from a vendor of record list), identified through a completed RFSQ.