Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has issued a stern warning to architects and engineers specifying American building materials on public projects, arguing their design choices are undermining the province’s local procurement laws.
Speaking at a major housing infrastructure announcement in Vaughan last Wednesday, Ford expressed mounting frustration with designers who mandate imported products when domestic equivalents exist.
Responding to media questions about a “Buy Ontario” memo he sent to provincial board chairs on Tuesday, the premier singled out the early design phase of public infrastructure as a major friction point, pointing to a school construction project in Uxbridge as a prime example of where the procurement system is failing.
The premier singled out the early design phase of public infrastructure as a major friction point, pointing to a school construction project in Uxbridge as a prime example of where the procurement system is failing.
“It all starts with the architects and the engineers specing out these materials,” Ford said. “I hear they spec out this brick, and God knows we have great brick companies here in Ontario, and they’re buying in the U.S. for $8 a brick, and we can sell it for $2”.
Ford’s frustration highlights a growing clash between specialized architectural design and the government’s aggressive legislative push to keep taxpayer dollars within the province.
The premier pointed to the government’s Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act (BOBIA) and the broader “Buy Ontario” legislative efforts as strict mandates that the construction sector must adhere to. Recently, the government doubled down on this strategy by introducing the Buy Ontario Act, which formally prioritizes domestic goods and services across the province’s $30-billion annual public procurement budget.
This procurement legislation applies to all public sector organizations, including municipalities, contractors, and subcontractors. By legally prioritizing Ontario and Canadian goods, the province aims to protect local workers and manufacturing supply chains from the impacts of global uncertainty and escalating U.S. tariffs.
Ford indicated that while compliance across the sector is likely around 98 per cent, the exceptions are intolerable.
“It drives me crazy when I hear someone’s buying something off the U.S., one of these agencies or hydro companies,” Ford said.
Linking the province’s procurement mandate to broader cross-border economic tensions, the premier framed the directive as a matter of economic defense.
“We’re in a war,” he said. “You protect your country. You protect your province.”
Ford dismissed the notion that the government’s legislation is too weak to enforce, referring to the local purchasing mandates as “patriotic rules” that public sector builders and staff are expected to follow. He suggested that those who fail to comply should not be working in the sector.
Calling his comments “just another warning shot,” the premier revealed that the government is actively tracking non-compliance through industry whistleblowers.
“The suppliers are the ones calling us, giving us a heads up,” Ford said, urging local businesses to continue reporting irregularities during the bidding and specification processes. “If you see something going sideways, give us a ring and we’ll hunt it down and hold them accountable.”
