What to know
- eSupply Canada CEO Steven Vanloffeld is asking the Ford government to allow additional Ontario, Canadian and Indigenous suppliers to compete in the $66-million classroom supplies program.
- Vanloffeld says Staples should remain a vendor, but questions why the program was structured around a single supplier and how the winning bid was evaluated.
- He argues the Staples-only arrangement conflicts with the government’s Buy Ontario messaging and its calls to support Canadian businesses amid trade tensions.
- eSupply Canada has contacted Education Minister Paul Calandra but had not received a response at the time of the interview.
An Ontario Indigenous-owned supplier is calling on the Ford government to open its $66-million classroom supplies program to more vendors, arguing that the Staples-only arrangement goes against the province’s own push to support Ontario businesses.
Steven Vanloffeld, founder and CEO of eSupply Canada, says his company sent a letter to Education Minister Paul Calandra asking the province to allow qualified Ontario, Canadian and Indigenous suppliers to compete for a share of the program.
“If Staples won, great. I’m not saying that they need to be excluded,” he told Now Toronto. “Keep Staples, but open it up.”
The province has awarded Staples Professional the contract to operate the program, which gives eligible elementary teachers $750 annually to purchase classroom supplies.
Vanloffeld, whose company regularly bids on government contracts, questioned why the classroom supplies program was structured around a single vendor and how Staples was evaluated.
He raised questions about the products used in the procurement process, saying some appear to be Staples-branded, as well as some of the prices in the classroom catalogue.
“You try to normalize the basket so that everybody that is competing on it has a fair chance,” he said.
Vanloffeld said some of the listed prices also appear unusually low based on his experience in the industry.
“If Staples is able to provide that kind of pricing, congratulations! That’s amazing, but as somebody that operates in this space, some of those prices seem unsustainable,” he said.
The province says Staples Professional was selected through a competitive procurement process led by Supply Ontario.
For Vanloffeld, the arrangement is particularly difficult to reconcile with Premier Doug Ford’s calls to support Canadian and Ontario businesses during ongoing Canada-U.S. trade tensions.
“We have the Ontario Premier that has been a pretty staunch advocate about supporting Canadian, particularly Ontario businesses,” he said. “So this kind of flies in the face of those policies.”
He pointed to the province’s Buy Ontario policy and its previous Building Ontario Business Initiative, arguing that Staples has repeatedly benefited from government initiatives.
“This should have been an easy win for them. It wasn’t,” he said.
He said this especially hurts small Ontario businesses.
“Small businesses are waiting for the opportunity, and then what happens is time and time again, particularly these big initiatives that can have a meaningful impact. They’re awarded to U.S. companies. It’s really disheartening.”
Vanloffeld said the province should keep Staples but allow other qualified businesses to compete.
“We need Ontario businesses to have an opportunity to compete. Teachers need choice, particularly now,” he said.
He said eSupply Canada had not received a response from Calandra at the time of the interview.
“Don’t have a single vendor,” Van Loffel said. “Allow Ontario Indigenous businesses, qualified Canadian businesses, the opportunity to compete.”
