The City of Toronto’s Executive Committee considered a staff report on April 15, 2026 that included a significant shift in how the city procures engineering work for public services. By adopting Item Towards a Beautiful City: Update on Priority Items the City is moving toward Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) as part of its evaluation framework for design services.
QBS is a procurement framework in which the most appropriate firm for a project is chosen based on qualifications: knowledge, skill, relevant experience, and the quality of the proposed approach. Price is not the determining factor in selection as fee negotiations happen after the best-qualified firm is identified, against an agreed scope of work.
The City of Toronto implementing QBS is a major policy win for OSPE and the engineering profession. OSPE has been advocating for QBS for a long time because of it’s advantage for public safety, long-term value for projects, and fair pay for the engineering profession.
The Importance of Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS)
The evidence consistently shows that QBS projects deliver better outcomes: cost overruns on QBS projects are roughly half the national average, fewer change orders arise, and there is a measurably higher likelihood of owner satisfaction at project completion.
QBS has been federal law in the United States since the 1970s under the Brooks Act. QBS is also adopted in Canadian regions like Quebec and Calgary.
The alternative to QBS is lowest-bid procurement, which creates a race to the bottom. Firms undercut each other on price; the public ends up with infrastructure designed to the lowest acceptable standard rather than the highest achievable one leading to costly repairs.
Engineering services may represent only 1-2 percent of total costs on infrastructure projects, but the role of the engineer is critical since their work can determine the quality, safety, and lifecycle cost of everything that follows.
What OSPE Has Said
OSPE has advocated for QBS adoption in Ontario since 2021, when the organization launched a dedicated campaign calling on the provincial government to adopt QBS as standard practice for public-sector engineering procurement.
OSPE has released a research report, included requests to mandate QBS in budget submissions and Bill comments, and has met with provincial ministers and critics across sectors to advocate for QBS, including the Hon. Stephen Crawford, Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, the Hon. Todd McCarthy, acting Minister of Infrastructure, and MPP Jennifer French, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure.
The City of Toronto’s move is not a provincial mandate, but a formal QBS framework at Canada’s largest municipal government, covering design services for the public realm, is a meaningful step in the direction OSPE has been advocating for years.
What the “Towards a Beautiful City” Report Does
The Towards a Beautiful City report is an update on a broader City initiative to raise the quality and care of Toronto’s public realm like parks, public spaces, and buildings. The report documents the City’s intent to use QBS as a standard evaluation tool for design services, with provisions to include a median-priced scoring approach and support for small, local firms in the framework.
What Comes Next
Toronto formalizing QBS demonstrates that a major Ontario public-sector owner can move away from lowest-bid procurement for professional services, manage the transition, and communicate the rationale publicly. That matters for the provincial conversation OSPE is still having at Queen’s Park. The City’s move strengthens OSPE’s case.
Other professional organizations have also voiced their support for the City’s direction. Like the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) and the Construction and Design Alliance of Ontario (CDAO) of which OSPE is a member.
The CDAO also developed a Procurement Guide that explores better practices, including QBS, which the OAA referenced directly in its communication to the City. This is a coalition effort, and Toronto’s decision reflects the cumulative weight of that advocacy.
OSPE will continue to push for a provincial mandate for QBS in public infrastructure projects. In the meantime, OSPE welcomes Toronto’s direction and the momentum it creates for the wider procurement reform that Ontario and the engineering profession needs.
Learn more about QBS here.
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