As a publicly funded organization, the University of Ottawa must comply with public procurement laws, trade agreements, and agreements with granting agencies.

The University selects suppliers through a transparent and non-discriminatory practice in compliance with competitive tendering laws and trade agreements. Therefore, current and potential suppliers of the University (and their sub-contractors) must negotiate and conduct business ethically and with integrity, comply with provincial and international laws (where applicable), respect employment standards, remain in good standing with their business terms, and inform the University of any changes that conflict with public procurement directives, affect procurement decisions, or impact ongoing contracts.

The University posts all public tenders worth $100,000 or more on the Merx website.

Related policy and terms and conditions

To learn more about procurement at uOttawa, please refer to:

Transition to Workday

In May 2023, the University of Ottawa retired its legacy procurement system, SciQuest (Jaggaer), and switched to Workday, a change that affected how the University works with its current and prospective suppliers.

Current suppliers

The transition to Workday in May 2023 has resulted in a few important changes

  1. POs are now sent by email
  2. Invoices with a PO are processed automatically
  3. Payments are made by direct deposit, or by cheque or wire transfer for suppliers who have not registered for direct deposit
  4. Suppliers can only change their supplier profile by contacting their uOttawa contact person

Prospective suppliers

To provide goods and services to the University of Ottawa, suppliers must complete a registration process using the Workday prospective supplier website before delivering any goods or services, or issuing invoices. Suppliers can obtain the link and instructions on completing the form from their uOttawa contact person.

University of Ottawa employees should refer to the Setting up and updating supplier profiles webpage (login required).