Ontario government waives procurement fees

Fees on provincial government procurement opportunities have been eliminated in Ontario.

Businesses can now submit bids for free on the Ontario Tenders Portal – previously a charge of $300 per bid or $750 annually for unlimited bids.

A $525 annual fee to access the Registration, Appraisal and Qualification System used by the Ministry of Transportation for road maintenance procurements has also been eliminated.

Annually, provincial government ministries procure about $6 billion worth of goods, services and construction. On average, it does business with 52,000 vendors annually.

Ontario plans to designate 33 per cent of its procurement spending to small and medium sized businesses by 2020.

SOURCE: GOVERNMENT OF ONTARIO