Upcoming Webinar

Buy Ontario: What GCs Sign, and What Subs and Suppliers Have to Prove

If you bid public work in Ontario, there is a document in your next tender package you should read before your estimator does. Work through it with other GCs, subs and suppliers facing the same tenders, and get a lawyer's read on whether a supplier's word is enough to stand behind your own.

Thursday, October 22, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET

Live discussion

Featuring employment lawyer Michael Sherrard

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Meet the Presenters

A legal and a compliance view of the declaration

Michael Sherrard

Sherrard Kuzz LLP, Employment and Labour Lawyers

Bio to come.

Ben Snyman

Cofounder and CEO, ContractorXchange

With 30+ years in risk management and a legal background (B.Comm, LLB, MBA), Ben brings practical insight into the future of safety, compliance, and risk management, and how organizations can leverage technology to strengthen due diligence.

Join Ben and Michael as they walk through the directives and what the declaration asks of you, then discuss with GCs, subcontractors and suppliers what comes next.

Why It Matters

One signature, backed by other people's facts

Covered public tenders in Ontario now ask where every major good and service comes from. Subcontractors and suppliers provide the answers. The GC signs, and none of the suppliers has a contract with the buyer.

Origin means where it was made

Not where you bought it. A distributor down the road selling imported product does not qualify.

The signer's name is on the declaration

The signer declares a complete due diligence and personal knowledge of the facts.

Nobody has defined due diligence

Nothing says what evidence should sit behind the signature.

The MTO Model Municipalities Are Asked to Adopt

The 24-hour window, and what follows

MTO's special provision CMOB0013 is the most developed version so far, and the one industry associations want municipalities to use. Here is the sequence it sets.

Bid summary published

The three low bidders are identified.

24 hours

Plan and declaration filed

The three low bidders file the Domestic Supply Chain Plan and a signed declaration.

Review and award

MTO can reject a bid if it decides the bidder has misrepresented anything.

Before goods arrive

Any change in supply is reported in an updated plan before the goods reach site.

Through construction

Ontario and Canadian content stays at or above 50% of total bid value. Falling short can bring administrative action.

Where the Risk Lands

The Act sets no penalty for a bidder. Your contract is another matter.

The origin facts come from subcontractors and suppliers. The consequences land on whoever signed.

Depending on its terms, the buyer can:

Disqualify the bid

Terminate for default

Remove you from its bid list

Pursue you for misrepresentation

Agenda

What we'll work through

We're bringing GCs, subcontractors and suppliers together with Michael Sherrard of Sherrard Kuzz LLP, Employment and Labour Lawyers, to work through what due diligence actually means here.

Session structure

What the declaration commits you to, with Michael Sherrard

Working through the open questions, with Ben Snyman and GCs, subcontractors and suppliers

Open discussion

The open questions

What standardized wording can buyers use, so that a declaration signed for one municipality means the same thing as the one signed for the next?

What due diligence does a GC actually have to do to stand behind that wording, and which documents should it be collecting from its subcontractors and suppliers?

What is reasonable to expect of a GC working with 24 hours between the bid summary and the signed declaration?

What can subcontractors, manufacturers and suppliers reasonably be asked to provide, in what form, and how often should it be refreshed?

Would a shared database of Ontario suppliers and subcontractors that have already met a standard set of requirements serve as a first level of prequalification, so a GC starts from a list that has been checked rather than rebuilding the same file on every bid?

Bring What Happened on Your Last Tender

That's the most useful thing in the room. Register and we'll send your joining details.

General information based on the Buy Ontario Act, the provincial and municipal directives, and MTO's published special provision. Not legal advice on any contract or bid.