Kingston MPP Ted Hsu Demands Review of Ontario’s Sole-Sourced Staples Classroom Supply Procurement Deal
Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu and Ontario education unions have called for a formal audit into the Ford government's centralized Staples procurement agreement, citing inflated classroom supply costs and shipping delays.
Choseno Civic News Desk September 4, 2026 2 min read CA
What do you think of the people in this story? Rate them anonymously — tap a face below.
KINGSTON, Ont. — Kingston and the Islands Member of Provincial Parliament Ted Hsu, joined by regional educators and public school union representatives, has called on Ontario’s Auditor General and the Ministry of Education to conduct a comprehensive value-for-money audit of the provincial government's centralized classroom procurement partnership with Staples Canada.
The controversial procurement framework, introduced under Premier Doug Ford's administration to centralize school supply orders across Ontario's 72 district school boards, has faced mounting criticism from frontline classroom teachers, principals, and school administrative staff as the fall academic term gets underway.
Educators in Eastern Ontario report that the mandatory corporate portal frequently lists essential educational materials—including art supplies, science lab consumables, and specialized special education tactile aids—at unit prices significantly higher than local independent retailers and legacy educational distributors. School staff also reported persistent inventory stockouts, prolonged delivery backlogs, and cumbersome return procedures that force teachers to purchase necessary classroom supplies out of their own pockets.
"Ontario's public education dollars belong in classrooms supporting student learning, not locked into restrictive corporate sole-source arrangements that deliver overpriced supplies and administrative headaches," MPP Ted Hsu stated during a press briefing in Kingston. "When teachers are forced to wait weeks for basic paper and markers or pay inflated prices through an exclusive portal, our students bear the cost. The government must provide complete transparency and accountability regarding how this contract was structured."
Representatives from the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) reiterated calls for the Ministry of Education to restore local purchasing discretion to school principals and district procurement officers, who previously negotiated bulk volume discounts with regional vendors.
A spokesperson for the Minister of Education defended the procurement portal, maintaining that province-wide bulk aggregation reduces overall administrative overhead across district school boards and arguing that technical optimizations are underway to resolve onboarding and delivery friction.
