Item - 2026.GG30.15

The General Government Committee recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, to negotiate and enter into a non-competitive procurement contract with SmartSimple Software Inc., for a new configuration of Housing Secretariat’s grant application in the SmartSimple platform, for a two (2) year term for a value up to $300,000 net of taxes and applicable charges ($305,280 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), subject to terms and conditions acceptable to the Executive Director, Housing Secretariat, and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

The purpose of this report is to request authority to enter into a non-competitive procurement contract with SmartSimple Software Inc., a Canadian supplier, for a new configuration of Housing Secretariat’s grant application in the SmartSimple platform, for a two (2) year term, for a value of up to $300,000 net of taxes and applicable charges ($305,280 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries).

The Toronto Grants, Rebates and Incentives Portal is a centralized online hub used by non-profit and resident-led organizations to apply for various City grants, administered by City of Toronto divisions. In 2021, Housing Secretariat’s Toronto Grants, Rebates and Incentives Portal application was built and customized by SmartSimple Software Inc., to support the delivery of housing and tenant services grant programs that aligned with the federal government’s Reaching Home Program and the provincial government’s Homelessness Prevention Program directives.

Since Toronto Grants, Rebates and Incentives Portal’s launch, new housing and tenant services grant programs have been introduced and existing programs have expanded that cannot be supported within the existing Toronto Grants, Rebates and Incentives Portal system. As a result, these programs are administered and monitored outside the system, relying on paper-based grant funding application, paper-based agreements, non-standardized reporting templates and monitoring and oversight tools.

To enable all housing and tenant services programs to be administered through the system in a consistent way, the Housing Secretariat is seeking authority to enter into a contract with SmartSimple Software Inc., to develop a new generic configuration that will allow programs currently operating outside of the system to be added, establishing a single, integrated platform for all housing and tenant services programs.

These enhancements will strengthen monitoring and program compliance through a centralized system, provide consistency and decreased administrative burden for non-profit organizations delivering housing and tenant grant programs. This new configuration will support the integration of approximately eight (8) additional housing and tenant services programs (approximately $27 million per year) into Toronto Grants, Rebates and Incentives Portal, centralizing the administration of approximately 15 programs and approximately $100 million per year.

Given that SmartSimple Software Inc. is the original vendor that built the existing platform, the vendor has unique knowledge of Toronto Grants, Rebates and Incentives Portal’s architecture, configurations, and integrations. Leveraging this expertise supports system compatibility and continuity, minimizes implementation risk, and avoids the time and cost associated with onboarding a new vendor, ensuring a more efficient and reliable path to delivering the new configuration. SmartSimple Software Inc., can further leverage its existing work to develop a new configuration for the Housing Secretariat by building on established service delivery requirements and provide the necessary system functionalities to support the overall new generic configuration.

A non-competitive procurement 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. This procurement will be proceeding under the exception related to Exclusive Rights, where SmartSimple Software Inc., and the City have 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 7.1.C).

City Council approval is required in accordance with Municipal Code Chapter 195, Procurement, where the current request exceeds the Chief Procurement Officer’s authority of the cumulative five-year commitment limit for each vendor under Article 7, Section 195-7.3(D) of the Procurement 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 71-11(A).