Dear friends,
On March 9, I attended Tech Nation’s Buy Ontario Fireside Chat in Toronto. The conversation - featuring Hon. Stephen Crawford, Jamie Wallace (Supply Ontario CEO), and Mohammad Qureshi (Ontario CIO) - revealed something important.
Ontario isn’t just tweaking procurement. It’s resetting the entire system.
For public sector leaders, this is more than policy news. It’s an operational shift that will change how you buy, how you modernize, and how you adopt new technology.
Here’s what I took away.
The Context: Why Now
Public procurement is a $12 trillion global market. In Canada, it accounts for 12-15% of GDP. Governments invest over $16 billion annually in science and technology, with roughly $7 billion on tech-specific procurement.
Ontario is the largest technology buyer in the country.
But here’s what changed. COVID exposed the fragility of global supply chains. As Jamie Wallace put it, “What the pandemic taught us was we couldn’t rely on our neighbors. And we had to do more for ourselves.”
When 80 countries closed borders to PPE exports, domestic companies filled the gap. That wasn’t just a supply chain lesson. It was a proof point.
The Buy Ontario Act, which received Royal Assent in December 2025, formalizes what COVID made obvious: economic resilience requires local capacity.
The Problem: Fragmentation
Let’s be honest about the current state.
Hundreds of procurement portals. Thousands of public sector entities buying independently. No single view of what’s being purchased or from whom.
Jamie Wallace described it plainly:
“Right now you have a fragmented ecosystem with literally hundreds of procurement portals and websites.”
This isn’t just inefficient. It creates duplication, limits leverage, and makes it harder for innovative vendors to break through.
The solution? A single platform.
Supply Ontario is building “one place where buyers and vendors come together” - a centralized system that will serve as the single source of truth for all public sector procurements in the province.
The target: up and running this calendar year.
For public sector organizations, this means:
- Fewer systems to manage
- Better visibility into existing contracts and pricing
- Access to pre-qualified vendors you didn’t know existed
Here’s a data point that matters: 89% of vendors currently on Supply Ontario’s Vendor of Record contracts are Ontario-based companies. The ecosystem is already there. The platform will make it visible.
The Shift: From Lowest Cost to Best Value
For years, the rule was simple: lowest price wins.
Jamie Wallace called it “the lowest cost religion.”
That’s changing.
The new framework asks different questions:
- Where is the IP held?
- Where is the work done?
- What economic benefits does this bring to Ontario?
This matters for public sector buyers because it gives you permission to think beyond price.
If you’ve ever been forced to choose a vendor based solely on cost - knowing a slightly higher bid would deliver better outcomes - the policy environment is shifting in your favor.
The Buy Ontario Act applies across the broader public sector: government entities, hospitals, universities, colleges, and Crown agencies like Metrolinx. Municipalities are being consulted now.
That’s not just economic policy. It’s procurement flexibility.
The Opportunity: AI Adoption at Scale
Artificial intelligence came up repeatedly - and for good reason.
Minister Crawford called it “more transformational than any invention in modern history.” The province recently created a new Associate Deputy Minister role dedicated entirely to AI.
But here’s what’s actually happening on the ground.
Mohammad Qureshi outlined three focus areas where the Ontario Public Service is already deploying AI:
Rules as code: Converting policy into automated decision frameworks. Think faster permitting, fewer manual reviews. The tool is called RGGI - a regulatory intelligence platform that’s simplifying government rules and starting to automate them.
Fraud detection: Using AI to improve program integrity across government services, including vehicle fraud detection at ServiceOntario.
Productivity improvements: 20,000 public servants are now using AI tools weekly, saving an average of 3 hours per employee per week.
There’s also a concrete success story worth knowing: AI Scribe.
Supply Ontario procured an AI-powered transcription tool for doctors’ patient visits. The result? Family doctors are saving up to 70% of time on paperwork. That’s a complex procurement done well - multiple vendors, strong outcomes.
Here’s the key insight: no public sector organization should figure this out alone.
Jamie Wallace noted that “every public sector organization right now is wrestling with AI.” The opportunity is to share what works - and avoid duplicating what doesn’t.
The new procurement platform could help here too. If one agency successfully pilots an AI tool, others should be able to see that contract, understand the vendor, and potentially reuse the solution.
The Trust Factor
There’s a dimension to this that goes beyond Ontario.
Minister Crawford emphasized that trust is becoming a competitive advantage in global trade. And Ontario companies are getting inbound calls.
“They’re getting calls from South America and Africa and Asia from companies that typically where they’ve done business with American companies. They’re looking for alternatives now.”
The message: Ontario and Canada are viewed as trustworthy partners. That’s an asset - both for domestic procurement and for companies looking to scale globally.
The Practical Takeaways
If you’re leading procurement, IT, or digital transformation in Ontario’s public sector:
Watch the platform rollout. Supply Ontario’s centralized procurement portal is coming this year. It will change how you access vendors and manage contracts. Get familiar early.
Rethink your value criteria. The policy environment now supports looking beyond price. Use that flexibility to prioritize outcomes, IP location, and economic impact.
Don’t reinvent AI. 20,000 public servants are already using AI tools. Coordinate across sectors. Learn from those experiments before starting your own from scratch.
Collaborate on solutions. Mohammad Qureshi was explicit: “I will not be able to have a contract with every single entity in Ontario. It is impossible.” The future is bundled solutions where vendors partner to deliver outcomes public sector organizations can actually procure.
Share what works. If your organization pilots a new approach - AI or otherwise - document it. The ecosystem improves when we share lessons across hospitals, universities, municipalities, and provincial agencies.
Mark your calendar. The last Friday of every June is now Buy Ontario, Buy Canada Day. Use it as a hook to engage your organization in local procurement conversations.
The Bottom Line
Ontario’s procurement reset is more than a policy change. It’s an operational modernization that could simplify how public sector organizations buy, accelerate AI adoption through shared learning, and create better outcomes for citizens.
The tools are coming. The policy is shifting. The question now is whether public sector leaders will use them.
As Minister Crawford put it:
“Working together, the public and private sectors can build a truly unified, innovative, and prosperous nation.”
For Ontario’s public sector, the invitation is clear: collaborate, modernize, and share what you learn.
How is your organization approaching procurement modernization? What would help you move faster?