Resources

The smallest and westernmost of Canada’s three federal territories, the Yukon has a diverse population of 42,000, with 76% of the population living in Whitehorse. The government sector is by far the largest employer in the territory, directly employing approximately 5,000 out of a labor force of 12,500.

The City of Abbotsford, located in the Fraser Valley region of BC, serves a rapidly growing population of over 141,000.

With many staff changes and significant projects on the horizon, the timing was perfect to offer Procurement information sessions geared to bringing everyone up to speed on the important topics of the supply chain world.

The Nova Scotia government has undergone a major transformation since the Shared Services Act (Bill No 60) took effect in December, 2015. With a move to standardizing and centralizing government procurement functions, the Procurement Branch of the Department of Internal Services (ISD Procurement), who was traditionally responsible for working only with government departments, recently took over procurement services for the health authorities in the province, having been consolidated from ten to two entities.

The Deisleen Development Corp (DDC) is a federally incorporated not for profit community economic development agency with a mandate to create a positive environment for economic growth for the community of Teslin, Yukon, and surrounding area, and all people living in the Teslin Tlingit traditional territory. Specifically, the DDC’s role includes unearthing new economic development prospects, assisting in business development opportunities, setting up, administering and managing community economic development projects and initiatives, and generating new jobs.

In the spring of 2016 the City of Edmonton conducted a staff needs assessment which identified a requirement to implement contract management training for over 200 procurement staff by the end of the year. While initially considering development of internal training, the City of Edmonton recognized the benefits of contracting out the training to ensure immediate delivery of market-tested, high-quality education from nationally recognized subject matter experts at NECI.

Metro Vancouver is a partnership of 21 municipalities, one Electoral Area and one Treaty First Nation that collaboratively plans for and delivers regional-scale services. Its core services are drinking water, wastewater treatment and solid waste management. Metro Vancouver also regulates air quality, plans for urban growth, manages a regional parks system and provides affordable housing. The regional district is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of elected officials from each local authority. Metro Vancouver approached NECI in 2012 to prepare and deliver a condensed and focused procurement workshop for elected officials.

At CF Industries, the procurement department facilitates and manages the bid and award process for competitive contracting. In the spring of 2013, CF Industries was working with 80% new staff, especially in the engineering area. Many of the new staff had come from private sector with limited knowledge of Canadian competitive contracting law. Although private sector itself, CF understood the importance of its obligations under Contract A when electing to use competitive contracting and wanted to protect the integrity of the process. CF wanted to have their procurement team, engineers, managers and end user group attend together so they could all benefit from the training and work effectively together on upcoming competitive procurements.

In 2013 both Purchasing and Sales and Project Procurement staff at TTC identified a need for comprehensive procurement training. The challenge they faced was that, because the two groups operate somewhat independently within very different areas of procurement for the corporation, each had different needs from a training program. While Purchasing and Sales staff focus primarily on procuring goods and related services for the transit operations and facilities, Project Procurement folks focus on capital construction projects and related services such as architectural design and engineering. To complicate matters, each group had a mixture of very seasoned, experienced procurement staff and new recruits with varying backgrounds and credentials in the supply chain field.

In November 2012, The City of Calgary launched its Corporate Project Management Framework (CPMF) program in response to recommendations prepared by the City Auditor’s Office as a result of audits of several major capital projects. In the first two years of the CPMF Program, ten minimum project management standards for capital projects were developed and implemented. In addition to those standards, the CPMF program produced a number of documents to support the integral relationship of project management and contract management. These documents include comprehensive guidelines for alternative contract strategies and The City’s procurement policies and processes. Along with these guidelines, a CPMF project delivered contracting and procurement training recommendations for City project managers.

In 2013 the Regional Municipality was in the process of implementing new procurement policies, procedures and procurement systems. At the same time, it was in the early planning stages for some major capital and operational projects estimated at approximately $500M per year for the coming 4-5 years. In order to enhance the capacity of the Supply Chain Management department in preparation for these initiatives, the Regional Municipality began to search for suitable, affordable and timely procurement training.