By Paul Emanuelli In its August 2026 decision in Land Design Inc. v. Ontario Infrastructure, the Ontario Divisional Court upheld a public agency’s decision to disqualify a bidder after that bidder met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford during a bidding process [...]
By Paul Emanuelli As this article explains, while “non-binding” RFPs that operate outside of the Contact A tendering rules may not be subject to lost profit claims under common law remedies, those negotiated RFPs remain subject to fairness duties in public [...]
Public procurement was in the spotlight again this quarter with the following top newsreel trends: (i) trade issues politicize procurement; (ii) collusive contracting scandals; and (iii) spending oversight controversies. 1. Trade Issues Politicize Procurement This quarter’s leading newsreel trend featured [...]
By Paul Emanuelli This practice advisory was prepared in response to the recent passage of the Buy Ontario Act, 2025 (BOA) and includes: (i) an explanation of how the new rules (the BOA Restrictions) will likely create a heightened [...]
By Paul Emanuelli In its March 2026 submission to the Ontario government, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) raised a series of concerns over the impact of new Buy Ontario Act (BOA) restrictions on municipal construction contracts, including concerns [...]
This special Buy Ontario Act (BOA) Newsreel update provides general background information on the new Ontario procurement rules and provides newsreel highlights from our media monitoring team that reflects shifting industry perspectives on the new BOA rules (the [...]
By Paul Emanuelli In December 2025 the Ontario government doubled down on its protectionist practices by passing the new Buy Ontario Act, 2025 (BOA). The new statute gives the provincial cabinet the power to order all Ontario public institutions to [...]
By Paul Emanuelli While pre-bid meetings may be necessary on some projects to ensure that bidders properly understand the scope of the required work and related performance conditions, pre-bid site visits and mandatory pre-bid meetings need to be carefully managed [...]
By Paul Emanuelli Multiple case studies illustrate the importance of establishing formal pre-bid protocols to properly manage the tendering process in the critical phase between the original posting of a tender call and the submission of bids. For example, solicitation [...]
By Paul Emanuelli Non-discrimination, a core global standard in public procurement, was recognized across Canada in the 1990s under the former Agreement on Internal Trade. That treaty was since replaced in 2017 with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, which further [...]
