Notice of Intended Procurement
NAME OF PROCURING ENTITY
The Governing Council of the University of Toronto (the “University”)
CONTACT PERSON AND CONTRACT PERSON COORDINATES
Renee Cheng
150 College Street, 3rd Floor, Room 350,
Toronto ON M5S 1A2
reneeke.cheng@utoronto.ca
PROCUREMENT DOCUMENTS
The procurement documents are available at www.merx.com.
Note that obtaining access to the procurement documents will require prospective suppliers to register and pay a registration fee. Pricing and Payment Terms are available on the MERX website.
DESCRIPTION OF PROCUREMENT
The Department of Cell and Systems Biology (CSB) comprises of over 30 labs and 200 scientists of all levels with diverse research topics and courses. Several of the major research foci include developmental biology and cell morphogenesis, genomics and plant biology.
The aquatic facility will be used solely by members of the Gunawan lab and staff technicians at the Biological Sciences Facility (BSF). This facility will be placed in the Biological Sciences Facility, a centralized facility for research animals in the Ramsay Wright Building; the two designated rooms are approximately 170-180 square feet each (combined total of about 350 square feet). The facility is expected to support zebrafish, which is the primary model system used in the Gunawan lab to address their question of cardiovascular development and morphogenesis. It is expected to house approximately 6,000-9,000 zebrafish, including animals that have to be kept in quarantine. As detailed in the technical specifications, the facility is expected to be self-sustaining and equipped to handle daily maintenance of zebrafish, and have alert systems to notify users of emergency situations.
The procurement is anticipated to involve negotiation. An electronic auction is not anticipated.
ADDRESS AND FINAL DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS
Submissions must be submitted electronically at https://utoronto.bonfirehub.ca/ on or before Monday, November 03, 2025 (2:00 PM local time). The submissions will not be opened publicly.
CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
The procurement is subject to the following conditions for participation: Please see Schedule A to the RFP Data Sheet, Section 6.2.2.
APPLICABLE TRADE AGREEMENTS
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
- The Canadian Free Trade Agreement, Chapter Five
- The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, Chapter 19
- The Ontario-Quebec Trade and Cooperation Agreement, Chapter 9
CONTRACT DETAILS
See Form of Agreement, 2.1 Term
EVALUATION CRITERIA
The University will base its selection of qualified suppliers on the following criteria:
Schedule D Part 1 Technical Submission Requirements Weight
B.1 Experience and Qualifications 5
B.2 Technical Requirements
B.2.1 Capacity and Water Treatment Unit 12
B.2.2 Multilinked Rack System 12
B.2.3 Standalone Quarantine Rack 8
B.2.4 Feeding Support 8
B.2.5 Regulatory and Industry Standards Compliance 1
B.3 Delivery, Installation and Testing 5
B.4 Training Requirements 5
B.5 Warranty and Extended Warranty Services 6
B.6 Emergency Service and Customer Support 18
Schedule D Part 2 Financial Submission 20
Total 100
Optional Demonstration 15
Total incl. Optional Demonstration 115
NOTES
Suppliers should note that information contained within this notice is subject to change. Suppliers are encouraged to obtain the procurement documents which contain the most current information. If there is a conflict between the procurement documents and this notice, the procurement documents will take precedence.
