Spring 2026 - May 14 - Flipbook - Page 7
to provide a weighting at the tendering
stage of the project. The higher the
Canadian content, the better the score
a contractor obtains. This changes the
current procurement system, and albeit
for all the right reasons, may become
overly problematic unless a fulsome
prequalification is done prior to the tender
being issued.
The problematic issue without a prequali昀椀cation, is that a contractor will be
weighted too strongly on the source content of the materials, instead of properly
weighting the contractor on demonstrating the ability to complete similar projects
of the same size and scope in similar
jurisdictions.
This becomes a competition for owners
to demonstrate “Canadian content” as
the main indicator over skill and outcome
from the contractor. This is a slippery
slope to the bottom and resembles the trap
of stipulated sum contracts wherein the
price is the primary driver for the project
and not demonstrable skill.
The OGCA wants to note that if buyers
of construction adopt the Buy Canadian Act
similarly, then they will get similar outcomes to the lowest-bid-style projects.
Secondly, at the time of tender, the
contractor is expected to include a cost
breakdown that details the values of goods
and services and where they have been
sourced. Any goods or services sourced
from outside of Canada require an explanation, and additional comments as to
why. Issues arise from items that are sole
sourced by the owner, especially those
that are sourced from the USA – especially
when tender documents specify explicit
items and where said items must be procured from.
The tender language maintains that
the contractor is now required to provide
an explanation as to why this sole sourced
item was not procured in Canada. Despite
the items being sole sourced by the owner,
the expectation is now that contractors
provide explanations as to why those
products are being sourced from outside
Canada. This is verging on the surreal, and
directly creating more work for contractors
in the process.
Thirdly, most, if not all sub-trades are
never going to provide contractors with
that breakdown, nor will their suppliers.
General contractors will have almost no
way of knowing where the products are
made or sourced until much later in the
procurement process.
Lastly, in addition to the Canadian
content requirement in the tender, the
owner has included liquidated damages in
the supplementary conditions for failure to
achieve the supply chain plan proposed by
the general contractor during the tender
submission.
Do you see the stick?
The members of the OGCA support “Made
in Canada” items, but unless there are
clear substitutions allowed in the tender
documents, then all this does is create
more pressure on the general contractors
to fill out forms and/or explain themselves
for purchasing supplies from the USA,
when they are being specified in the tender
documents. Instead of Building Ontario,
this Act creates further administration,
which complicates the already problematic
procurement system.
Overall, the OGCA strongly recommends that the government seek
stakeholder input on how to best create
and implement directives that spur the
industry to Buy Canadian, instead of utilising enforcement as the main means of
“encouragement.”
This input needs to come from the
manufacturing and construction side of
the equation, simply decreeing it does not
make it useful or bene昀椀cial.
Make the directive clear and understandable, and phase them into projects,
instead of smashing a square peg into a
round hole.
Simplify things, instead of complicating
them!
As Prime Minister Mark Carney said on the
Davos stage, at the start of 2026:
“We know the old order is not coming
back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is
not a strategy, but we believe that from the
fracture we can build something bigger,
better, stronger, more just.”
The entire Canadian landscape has been
laid bare, and for the 昀椀rst time in forever,
we have the opportunity to make a system
that is completely Canadian.
Let’s not hurry to an imaginary 昀椀nish
line and mess this up.
Let’s take our time and build Canada
properly - by Canadians - for Canadians!
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SPRING 2026 • the generals 7
