There is an exciting opportunity for us to come together as a school and support academic integrity. Each fall, there is an International Day of Action (IDoA) for Academic Integrity. This year, IDoA takes place on October 16.

Check out the International Center for Academic Integrity's information on the IDoA webpage and see how one of Humber's students, Carmen Ward, won for most creative poster submission last year. Many schools from around the world participate in this important day and this is a chance for Humber to be part of something important, fun, and current.

This year, we want to host a session across Humber's campuses and locations on October 16.

If you are a faculty member who is interested in being part of this positive initiative, please contact Jennie Miron for more information at jennie.miron@humber.ca. The hope is to meet at least once this spring to brainstorm ideas for the day and then carry on early fall to get things finalized. Your enthusiasm and help is greatly appreciated!

Procurement Changes to comply with BOBI effective May 1, 2024 

Please be advised that the provincial government recently passed a new act called Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act, 2022 (BOBI) which has a significant impact on how the procurement is undertaken moving forward. 

The Act, which came into effect on April 1, 2024, intends to provide Ontario-based businesses access to more government and public sector procurement opportunities. This Act applies to all Ontario Public Sector Entities (including government agencies, hospitals, schools, colleges, and universities). Under this Act, an Ontario business is defined as a supplier, manufacturer or distributor of any business structure that conducts its activities on a permanent basis in Ontario, and the business either has its headquarters or main office in Ontario or has at least 250 full-time employees in Ontario.

To be compliant with BOBI, we will be making changes to ALL our procurement documents (RFx). 

(a) Request for Quotations (RFQ) – where staff undertakes new sourcing event for goods, services and equipment themselves (without engaging purchasing staff), they are required to follow the changes outlined below. If the RFQ procurement value falls between $20,000 and $99,999, there are TWO (2) options to choose from when determining how the quotes will be evaluated and this must be communicated to the THREE (3) vendors invited to quote. You must decide prior to requesting the quotes whether you will evaluate on:

(i) Price only – with this option, Ontario Businesses receive a 10 per cent evaluation advantage on the pricing, or

(ii) Price and Rated Criteria – with this option, Ontario Businesses will receive a 10 per cent advantage on the rated criteria.

The Invitational Procurement Evaluation Form provides guidance on how to apply the 10 per cent evaluation advantage. From May 1, 2024, all purchase requisitions for goods and/or services awarded through an invitational competitive procurement must include a completed Humber Invitational Procurement Evaluation Form.

(b) Request for Proposal (RFP) – when working with the Purchasing Team including Ontario specific rated criteria will be a requirement. To meet the BOBI requirements, a minimum of 25 per cent of the evaluation criteria must be attributed to Ontario Businesses. Purchasing will provide guidance on how to apply the 25 per cent criteria for your sourcing event to ensure compliance to BOBI while meeting your needs and requirements.

We will be asking all vendors who are responding to sourcing events including RFQ and RFP to complete a Humber Vendor Attestation Form to verify if they are an Ontario or Canadian business. 

To assist users with this new requirement, drop in education and rraining sessions will be offered in the next two weeks – please check the Communiqué for dates and times. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us or a member of the Purchasing team should you have any questions and/or concerns. 

Thank you.

Additional Resources:

• Building Ontario Businesses Initiative 
• Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act, 2022 
• Doing Business with the Government of Ontario 
• Broader Public Service Procurement Directive 

Please note the North and Lakeshore libraries will be closed on Friday, April 26 for a team meeting. The North and Lakeshore Learning Commons spaces will be open. 

The libraries will reopen on Monday, April 29, 2024. 

A calendar of hours is available on the library website.