OECM

OECM is a not-for-profit collaborative sourcing partner for Ontario's education, municipal and broader public sector buyers - a marketplace of pre-sourced agreements rather than a tendering authority.

What it is

OECM (Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace) is a not-for-profit collaborative sourcing organization for Ontario's public sector. Per OECM's own corporate pages, it contracts with reputable suppliers and offers the resulting agreements through its "Marketplace" to education sector buyers (school boards, colleges, universities, private and career colleges), healthcare facilities, municipalities and related service organizations, government ministries and agencies, Crown corporations, not-for-profits, shared service organizations, utilities and other publicly funded institutions.

How buying through OECM works

Customers create and activate an OECM account, browse the Marketplace of collaboratively sourced agreements, and purchase by completing a Customer-Supplier Agreement (CSA) directly with the supplier partner. There is no spend or volume commitment, and OECM states that agreements available through its Marketplace include contract management services such as ongoing business reviews, KPI/SLA monitoring, price audits and negotiations on customers' behalf.

Compliance posture

OECM states it follows the Ontario Broader Public Sector (BPS) Procurement Directive for all procurements and conducts sourcing through a fair, open and competitive process designed for compliance with the BPS Procurement Directives and trade agreements including CETA and CFTA.

Relationship to Supply Ontario

OECM is a separate not-for-profit organization, not a branch of Supply Ontario. The two operate a Collaboration Agreement to identify mutually beneficial opportunities (leveraging stakeholders, data aggregation and strategic sourcing), and OECM has stated it works with government partners in support of Ontario's Supply Chain Centralization Initiative.

Common questions

Who can buy through OECM?

Publicly funded organizations: educational institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities, social and community services, ministries and agencies, children's aid societies, provincially funded organizations, municipalities and related service organizations, Crown corporations, First Nations federal agencies and Indigenous organizations, not-for-profits, shared service organizations, utilities, local boards and other public sector entities.

When did OECM start?

OECM's corporate timeline states it was established by the government to encourage collaboration within the education sector, and that its Marketplace of products and services became available to the broader public sector in 2006.

Related definitions

Broader public sector (Ontario) - BPS Procurement Directive - Supply Ontario - Vendor of record - CETA government procurement