Item - 2025.GG22.11

The General Government Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to negotiate and enter into a non-competitive contract with DocuPet Inc., for the provision of Pet Licensing Services from October 17, 2025 to October 17, 2030, inclusive, in the amount of $680,730 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($692,711 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), with the option to extend the agreement for up to five (5) additional separate one (1) year periods, at the sole discretion of the City for a total potential contract amount of $1,537,136 net of all applicable taxes and charges ($1,564,190 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

2. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to report to General Government Committee in the second quarter of 2026 examining the feasibility of integrating the City’s pet licensing system with pet microchipping, including a jurisdictional analysis of cities that do this already, including Melbourne, Australia. 

3. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to request DocuPet to include texting licence renewal notices in a future iteration of their application and a timeline for the implementation of this additional feature.

4. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to discuss with the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association the partnership opportunity of promoting municipal pet licensing at veterinary clinic and microchipping visits.

The General Government Committee:

1. Requested the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, to report directly to the June 25, 26 and 27, 2025 meeting of City Council on the current and future pet licensing public awareness efforts and resources, including mobile pet licensing outreach.

The purpose of this report is to request City Council authority to enter into a non-competitive contract with DocuPet Inc., for the provision of pet licensing services. The initial term of the contract will be for five years, commencing on October 17, 2025 to October 17, 2030, inclusive, with a total value of $680,730 net of all applicable taxes and charges. The contract also provides the City the option to extend the agreement for five (5) additional separate one (1) year periods, at the sole discretion of the City. If all of the extension options are exercised, there would be a total potential contract value of $1,537,136 net of all applicable taxes and charges.

Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 349, Animals, establishes rules and regulations for responsible pet ownership in the City, including a requirement for every owner of a dog or cat to obtain a pet licence. Pet licences help identify missing pets and return them to their owner so that these animals spend less time in a shelter and they allow members of the public and City staff to easily identify the owners of pets in the City. Revenue from pet licensing fees, as well as additional donations received during the pet licensing process, is used to fund Toronto Animal Services' programs, including spay / neuter programs, veterinary care and the rescue of sick, injured or distressed domestic animals and wildlife.

In 2023, the City entered into a no-cost, two-year pilot with DocuPet Inc., a Kingston-based Canadian company that provides online pet licensing services to municipalities, with the goal of improving pet licensing revenue and uptake, streamlining program administration, and enhancing customer experience. This pilot, which has shown success in increasing the rate of pet licensing, expires in October 2025. A market scan has shown that apart from DocuPet Inc., there are no other service providers in Canada that offer the pet licensing services that meet the needs of Toronto Animal Services. As there are no options on the market for similar systems, and considering the privacy, technology and cybersecurity work that went into developing and establishing the pilot throughout 2023 and 2024, staff recommend approval of this non-competitive procurement to have DocuPet Inc. provide pet licensing services to the City for the five (5) year term with the option of extending the agreement for five (5) additional one (1) year periods, as described in this report.

Non-competitive procurements may be undertaken where both the proposed procurement and supplier can be justified in good faith based on an exception set out in Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 195, Procurement. These procurements will be proceeding under the exception code related to an absence of competition where the Supplier has specialized experience and the City has determined in good faith that both the proposed procurement and the selected supplier, along with the terms and conditions of the contract are beneficial to the City (Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 195, Procurement, Section 7.1B.).

City Council approval is required in accordance with Municipal Code Chapter 195- Purchasing, where the current request exceeds the Chief Purchasing Officer's authority of the cumulative five-year commitment for each supplier, under Article 7, Section 195-7.3 (D) of the Purchasing By-Law or exceeds the threshold of $500,000 net of Harmonized Sales Tax allowed under staff authority as per the Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 71- Financial Control, Section 71-11A.