Procurement Metrics

The City uses a procure to pay (P2P) process that integrates its purchasing and accounts payable systems. The below metrics summarize key procurement activities, initiatives and performance indicators for processes and expenditures incurred by the City in 2023, with prior years included for comparison.

Source data for these metrics are available on the City’s Open Data portal. More details are available in the supplemental document.

The Purchasing and Materials Management Division (PMMD) is responsible for the commitment of public funds for the acquisition of goods and services. The City provides best value to Toronto taxpayers through the application of open, fair, equitable and accessible business processes and practices. Various solicitation methods are used, including:

  • Request for Tenders (RFT)
  • Request for Quotations (RFQ)
  • Request for Proposals (RFP)
  • Request for Information (RFI)
  • Request for Expression of Interest (REOI)

A bar graph with the number of solicitations issued for each year between the years 2019 and 2023. This data can be found in a table format immediately following.

Number of Solicitations Issued: 2019 – 2023
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Solicitations Issued Per Year 665 504 553 558 496

Average cycle time is the overall time it takes to complete a procurement on average, from initiation of the procurement with Purchasing and Materials Management Division (PMMD) until a purchasing document is issued. Overall, the average cycle time in 2023 was 145 working days, which represents an increase of 24 days over the 2022 average cycle time of 121 days.

Average Time in the Procurement Cycle (Number of Work Days): 2019 – 2023
Cycle Events 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Initiation of the solicitation, preparation and approval of a solicitation document for issuance 35.00 37.60 36.10 35.86 42.60
Time period between the solicitation issue date and closing date 20.00 22.40 21.50 23.66 24.40
Solicitation closing date and date summary sent to Client Division 4.00 6.00 4.90 3.80 9.10
Divisional evaluation of bids/proposals received 29.00 32.20 20.00 31.49 39.40
Time period from receipt of the recommendation to award to issuance of Purchase Order, which includes entering into legal agreements where required 30.00 34.40 22.50 25.72 29.30
Total Average Time in the Procurement Cycle 118 133 105 121 145

In 2023, the value of all non-competitive procurements for the City totaled $186.5 million, which represents 7.5 per cent of the City’s total procurements of approximately $2.5 billion. These non-competitive procurements include Purchase Orders (PO), Blanket Contracts (BC) and Divisional Purchase Orders (DPO).

The table below shows a comparison of non-competitive City procurements to total overall procurements for the years 2022 and 2023.

Number and Percent of NCP Activity $3,000 and Above in Relation to Total Procurement Activity: 2022 vs 2023
2022 Number of Procurements Issued 2022 Procurement Value 2023 Number of Procurements Issued 2023 Procurement Value
Approved by Divisions 294

(3.2% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

$7,275,556

(0.2% of Total Purchases)

262

(3.1% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

$5,862,705

(0.2% of Total Purchases)
Approved by PMMD 235

(2.6% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

$57,442,196

(1.4% of Total Purchases)

240

(2.9% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

 $44,646,351

(1.8% of Total Purchases)
Approved by Council 71

(0.8% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

$240,109,762

(5.8% of Total Purchases)

60

(0.7% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

 $135,991,085

(5.5% of Total Purchases)
Total Non-Competitive Activity 600

(6.5% of Total POs/BCs/DPOs issued)

$304,827,513

(7.4% of Total Purchases)

562

(6.7% of Total POs/BCs/DPO issued)

 $186,500,140

(7.5% of Total Purchases)

The City’s Materials Management Unit runs the corporate warehouses. It monitors and works to maintain a balance between the value of stock issued and the value of goods received.

Overall, the value of warehouse inventory increased over the five-year period from 2019 through 2023.

A bar graph with two bars per year indicating the dollar value of warehouse inventory purchased and issued between the years 2019 and 2023. A table with this data immediately follows.

 

Comparison of Non-competitive Procurements to Total Overall Procurements
Warehouse Inventory Type 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Dollar Value Purchased (000s)  $18,228 $58,158 $33,910 $78,678 $27,448
Dollar Value Issued (000s)  $17,998 $27,120 $30,575 $46,747 $32.992

In 2023, the City issued over 7,049 Divisional Purchase Orders (DPOs) valued at approximately $36.5 million, of which 294 DPOs valued at $7.2 million were processed as non-competitive procurements.

In 2023, there was a reduction of 656 DPOs compared to 2022, and the dollar value of purchases made by DPOs decreased by $6.9 million from $43.4 million.

A bar graph with Divisional Purchase Orders by dollar value annually between the years 2019 and 2023. A blue trend line above each bar indicates the number of DPOs issued in a downward trend. This data can be found in a table format immediately following.

 

Competitive and Non-Competitive DPOs: 2018 – 2022
Divisional Purchase Order (DPO) Information 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
DPOs Dollar Value (‘000s)  $51,375 $47,692 $46,126 $43,471 $36,515
DPOs Issued  10,938 9,553 8,792 7,705 7,049

For historic procurement metrics with the City, please see the 2022 Procurement Metrics supplemental document.