Overview

We have one of Canada’s leading procurement practices. Our deep experience advising clients on innovative procurement projects spans industries, from defence and technology to healthcare, infrastructure and power. We focus on complex procurements that demand sophisticated expertise on procurement law and commercial contracting, project and technology licensing expertise.

Services and expertise

Our procurement advisory and service expertise includes:

• defensible procurement process design that mitigates the risk of challenge by unsuccessful bidders both negotiated and non-negotiated procurements;
• procurement process documents and policies, including RFQs, RFPs, RFEIs and tender documents;
• fair and transparent selection criteria and evaluation processes;
• related statutory, regulatory and policy matters, including the Ontario BPS rules, the Financial Administration Act, federal SACC Terms (including integrity and eligibility requirements) and domestic and international trade agreements;
• issues that arise through the procurement and evaluation process, including ensuring compliance with the duty of fairness;
• bidders’ response to bids, including structuring joint ventures, understanding the legal framework applicable to the procurement and reviewing resulting contract terms;
• project contracts of many types, including fixed price contracts, target price contracts, design contracts, design/build agreements, engineering services contracts, technology licence agreements and many others;
• litigating and resolving disputes before all levels of courts, including the Canadian International Trade Tribunal; and
• enterprise-wide procurement policies, ensuring compliance with Canadian procurement law, trade treaties and global best practices.

Industry specialization

Defence

Our team has developed particular expertise in navigating the complexities of defence procurement, including the application of the Defence Production Act and Controlled Goods Regulations.

Torys represents the Government of Canada with respect to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, which is the largest and most complex procurement in Canadian history. The National Shipbuilding Strategy involves procurement of both combat ships (the Canadian Surface Combatant and the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships) and non-combat ships (the Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels, the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel, the Joint Support Ship and the Polar Icebreaker).

Technology

Torys has a leading technology contracting practice. In that connection, Torys regularly represents clients in leading Canadian transactions for the procurement, development and outsourcing of technology, technology services and other forms of intellectual property, including cutting edge technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. Our clients include financial institutions, telecommunications and media companies, consumer product and service companies, industrial and manufacturing companies, e-commerce companies, government agencies, life sciences companies, information technology companies and other developers and owners of intellectual property.

We acted as counsel to

• a Canadian Schedule I bank in the development and implementation of a risk adjudication system for multiple jurisdictions;
• the Independent Electricity System Operator in connection with the IESO’s and the Ministry of Energy’s project to design, build, operate and maintain Ontario’s Smart Meter central data management and repository (MDMR) system; and
• Canada Post in strategic advice on its domestic air cargo network services request for proposal processes and related agreements.

Read more about our Technology Contracting expertise.

Energy

Torys maintains one of Canada’s leading energy practices and has been engaged in many procurements in the course of that practice.

Torys acted for

• Ontario Power Generation on the Niagara Tunnel Project a $1.1 billion procurement to design and build a water diversion tunnel from above Niagara Falls to the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station and
• Infrastructure Ontario and the Government of Ontario in their New Nuclear Build RFP to procure a standalone, two-unit nuclear power plant in Ontario to provide 2,000-3,500 MW of baseload generation capacity to the Ontario grid.
• Torys is also acting for Wataynikaneyap Power, a joint venture between a developer and 22 First Nations, that is currently procuring an 1,800 km transmission line in Northern Ontario that is estimated to cost $1.35 billion.
• Torys has and continues to advise global energy developers in their equipment procurement processes in connection with renewable and conventional energy projects pursuant to government energy procurements programs in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Get more on our Power and Projects teams.

Healthcare

Torys has a depth of experience representing clients on procurement processes for large-scale healthcare and other social infrastructure projects across Canada. For example, we act for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Western Regional Health Authority in the Corner Brook Long Term Care PPP project to design, build, finance and maintain a new 164-bed hospital in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Torys also represented the Government of the Northwest Territories in the Stanton Territorial Hospital Renewal PPP project to design, build, finance and maintain a new state-of-the-art hospital facility in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Life Sciences

We also routinely advise drug companies and other medical product vendors on responding to RFPs, including the implications of offering rebates or other value-adds under provincial healthcare laws, and assessing risks from a competition law perspective for innovative offerings. We also advise vendors on their rights and recourse in the event that the company is not selected as the successful bidder.

Read more about our Life Sciences practice.

Transportation and transit

We have diverse experience advising clients on procurement processes for transportation and transit projects: we represent Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario in the multi-phase Regional Express Rail (RER) Program station and track expansion project, most recently the Kipling Bus Terminal AFP project to design, build and finance a new bus terminal, ancillary infrastructure, and the renovation and expansion of the existing GO station building in Toronto, Ontario. And through our New York and Toronto offices, we also act as counsel to Cubic Transportation–John Laing in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Automated Fare Collections System PPP project to design, implement, install, integrate, test, finance, operate, maintain and manage a new automated, account-based open fare collections system.

Learn more about our work in Infrastructure.

Infrastructure

Torys is recognized as a global leader among Canadian firms for Infrastructure and P3 deals, including associated procurement processes. One example of our expertise in this area is our role as counsel to SWIFT, a partnership of rural and regional municipal groups in the C$281 million Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology AFP project to design, build, finance, operate and maintain an ultra-high speed fibre-optic regional broadband network, covering over 300 communities in South Western Ontario, as well as Caledon and Niagara Regions.

Visit our Infrastructure practice page for more information on our expertise.