Item - 2020.GL16.3

The General Government and Licensing Committee:

1. Deferred the report (September 21, 2020) from the Controller to its meeting on November 30, 2020, and requested the appropriate staff to report back to the November 30, 2020 meeting of the General Government and Licensing Committee with a more fulsome explanation with the reason for the fluctuations in total consulting fees year to year.

As requested by Council, this report provides information on the consulting services expenditures of City Divisions and Agencies and Corporations for the year ended December 31, 2019.  The report contains a summary and details, by category and vendor, of operating and capital consulting services expenditures for 2019, with 2018 comparatives.

Overall, the City of Toronto and its City Divisions and Agencies and Corporations spent $37.7 million on consulting services in 2019 for operating and capital combined, which represents an overall increase of $12.6 million (or 50.1 percent) compared to 2018. The overall increase in consulting expenditures consists of an $8.8 million (or 72 percent) increase within City Divisions, and a $3.8 million (or 29 percent) increase within City Divisions and Agencies and Corporations.

Information for this report is gathered from the City's divisions and verified against the City's general ledger by Accounting Services.  Information from agencies and corporations is both accumulated and verified by those entities.  Accounting Services consolidates this report on behalf of the City.

The City's use of external services varies by year and project and supplements critical skill sets and expertise that are needed just-in-time, and are not available within existing staff complements, as well as enables the City to quickly complete essential initiatives while maintaining existing service levels. All expenditures have been budgeted as part of fiscal 2019.

In 2019, consulting operating expenditures increased as a result of:

-  The City's one-time investment to support enterprise-wide transformations, particularly aimed at improving the effectiveness of procurement and sourcing practices and budget modernization. These initiatives resulted in savings in excess of $40.0 million; and
-   The City's receipt of legal advisory services to address the Province of Ontario's amendment of the Construction Act.

Furthermore, 2019 consulting capital expenditures increased as a result of:

-   The City's initiatives associated with roads and transit services;
-   Toronto Transit Commission's review of its new streetcars and subway assets; and
-   Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation's assessment of its Quayside project.