Developing a Stronger Design Culture, Together – 2nd Edition

Produced to help implement the Montréal 2030 Agenda for Quality and Exemplarity in Design and Architecture, theToolkit is the outcome of the work conducted following the original call for proposals Developing a stronger design culture, together.

The Toolkit outlines 12 notions, divided into two sections:

• The first section, called Quality Vision, presents six dimensions of quality as inspirations for establishing the vision statement for a project and defining its quality objectives.
• The second section, Quality Operation, documents six strategies for taking action and making the project vision a reality, one step at a time.

Four types of tools have been developed to promote shared understanding of these notions and support project teams in putting them into practice: Compass, Backgrounders, Videos and Publications. 

The goal of the 2023–2024 call for proposals is to enrich the content of the Toolkit in order to achieve a deeper shared understanding of the 12 notions that it lays out and how to apply them in various project contexts. Among other things, the idea is to present the notions in greater depth so that they result in clearer understanding and more rapid reflexes that are geared toward quality. 

To enhance the quality of projects in Montréal, for example, it would be worthwhile to intensify efforts to raise target audiences’ awareness of the following topics:

• From the Quality Vision section: circularity, adaptability and reversibility; reduction, re-use and sharing of resources; densification; bioclimatic and biophilic design; cost-benefit analyses of quality; new land-use models; urban logistics; social needs that are ignored or neglected; co-existence of genders, cultures, generations and marginalized communities; ensuring accessibility and safety for specific groups of people, and more ;
• From the Quality Operation section: project planning and management processes that foster circularity; public tendering modes; participation and consultation mechanisms; methods for networking and mentoring of emerging professionals; life-cycle analysis that favours quality; management of a quality monitoring plan and indicators; strategies for feedback and for transfer of learnings, and more.

Before preparing your proposal, you are invited to read through the Toolkit. Are there areas where you see something lacking that should be addressed as a priority? How might you help meet that need?

Projects and activities as well as the awareness, planning and decision-support tools proposed must be designed and produced for managers, promoters, design and architecture professionals as well as citizens involved in decision processes affecting the quality of Montréal living environments (e.g., people taking part in participatory budgeting and other types of public consultations, members of planning advisory committees [comités consultatifs d’urbanisme, or CCUs], Montréal elected officials).

Call for projects and awareness activities
Non-profit organizations (NPOs) and institutions seeking to help strengthen Montréal’s design culture are invited to submit a funding application for a project or activity in keeping with their mission and with the objectives and audiences targeted in this call for proposals. Selected NPOs may receive a minimum of $25,000, to be used for: 

• funding up to 100% of the development and implementation of their project or activity;
• offering technical support to Montréal businesses through awareness-raising activities, including development of decision-support tools.

Examples of eligible projects and activities: guiding tours/walks, exhibitions, workshops, lectures, seminars, online or in-person training, mentoring, personalized or group support, film, documentary, television program, podcast, etc. 

Eligible organizations 
Non-profit organizations legally constituted under Part III of Québec’s Companies Act or the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, associations constituted under the Civil Code of Québec, cooperatives, solidarity cooperatives, non-profit foundations or trusts, and public organizations (schools, universities, research centres, school boards, or other) are eligible to receive funding from this call for proposals provided that they:

• carry out their non-profit operations on the territory of the urban agglomeration of Montréal;
• have been operating on a non-profit basis for at least two years;
• are not in default with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec or under any other governmental law;
• are in good standing with the various municipal departments and boroughs of Montréal;
• are free from any conflict of interest (a director or trustee is in a conflict of interest when they are able to further their personal interests, or those of others, rather than the interests of the organization);
• are free from any related-party transaction (a related-party transaction, such as any exchange [monetary or non-monetary] between the NPO, an NPO employee, or a board member and a directly or indirectly related person or corporation); and
• demonstrate sound financial management (no deficit or rulings against the organization).

Proposal submission process
Proposals must be submitted using the standardized application form for financial contributions from the city’s Service du développement économique. The form has five sections:

• Information about the applicant (contact information of the person in charge of submitting the application);
• Information about the organization (legal status, mission, description of activities, staff, etc.);
• Information about the organization’s governance (declaration of no conflict of interest, history of financial contributions and mandates from the City of Montréal, etc.);
• Upload of the proposal presentation documents (as described below);
• Upload of the mandatory documents:
  • the up-to-date list of the members of the organization’s board of directors and roles as well as the list of persons assigned to the project and their roles (to do this, use the standardized template provided, in French only);
  • letters patent, or incorporation document if the organization is a trust;
  • the organization’s general by-laws;
  • the resolution of the board of directors appointing and authorizing the person responsible for signing the agreement;
  • financial statements for the last year (audited, adopted at a general meeting or approved/adopted by the board of directors);
  • letters of agreement with project partners, where applicable;
  • francisation certificate, where applicable.

Stream 1: submit your proposal (form in French only)

Call for proposals for designing and implementing awareness, planning and decision-support tools
Businesses [and organizations] seeking to contribute their ideas and talent toward developing a stronger design culture in Montréal may submit a service offer for a contract to design, develop, implement, and disseminate awareness, planning and decision-support tools intended for audiences targeted by this call for proposals. Businesses [and organizations] that submit proposals may be eligible for a contract by mutual agreement of up to $100,000 (all taxes included).

Examples of eligible tools: books and publications (design/architecture guides, case studies), tutorials, questionnaires and analytical grids, digital directories, instructional videos, webinars, plain-language communications tools, templates, regulatory recommendations.

Eligible businesses [and organizations]
Businesses [and organizations] are eligible under this call for proposals provided they meet all of the following conditions:

• do not appear on the register of enterprises ineligible for public contracts (Registre des entreprises non admissibles aux contrats publics—RENA);
• do not appear on Montréal’s list of companies with unsatisfactory performance (Liste des firmes à rendement insatisfaisant);
• have fulfilled the commitments of previous service contracts with other Montréal municipal departments or boroughs; 

Only for bussinesses, this condition also applies

• for a proposed mandate worth more than $25,000 (all taxes included), do not have, at the time the contract is awarded, another ongoing service contract with the Service du développement économique or one that has ended in the past 90 days.

Exceptions: trade shows and exhibitions as well as awards or grant programs are not eligible.

Proposal submission process
Proposals must be submitted using the standardized application form for this purpose. The form has four sections:

• Information about the applicant (contact information of the person in charge of submitting the application);
• Information about the bussinesse or the organization (name, address, legal status);
• Upload of the proposal presentation documents (as described below);
• Upload of the following mandatory document:
  • up-to-date copy of the business’s entry on the Registre des entreprises du Québec;
  • francisation certificate, where applicable.

Stream 2: submit your proposal (form in French only)

The proposal presentation documents must be structured in four parts as described below. Each part must explain how the proposal fulfills the assessment criteria listed. The first three parts must be collected in a single PDF document, without the financial structure. Part 4, the financial structure, must be submitted separately using the standardized Excel template provided. 

Part 1 (max. 4 pages)
Description of the proposal
The organization’s or business’s project presentation must demonstrate its understanding of the objectives of the call for proposals and explain how and to what extent its proposal responds to them. This includes:

• demonstrating an understanding of the general and specific objectives of the call for proposals;
• giving a detailed presentation of the proposal that addresses the assessment criteria listed below.

Assessment criteria of the relevance of the proposal
Whether the proposal:

• addresses a lack or need that is real, experienced or expressed by one or more of the target audiences;
• is connected to one of the 12 notions outlines in the Quality Toolkit;
• is accessible (at lower cost, as applicable);
• is functional (i.e., its format, structure, content, method of use/participation);
• is sustainable (proof of long-term relevance / life cycle);
• includes an effective communications strategy to reach the specified target audiences;
• includes a deliverable that could be incorporated into the Quality Toolkit and would help enrich it.

Part 2 (max. 6 pages)
Description of the organization or business and the team assigned to the project
The organization or business must demonstrate its ability to implement its proposed project by providing:

• its mission, values and areas of activity;
• examples of relevant previous achievements;
• an organizational strategy suitable for the project, including:
  • an organizational chart showing the roles of key resources (internal and external resources, as applicable);
  • profiles of each key resource, including the project manager (stating training received, years of experience in their current role and similar accomplishments in that role).

Assessment criteria of the organization’s or business’s capacity to implement the project

• Does the organization or business have the expertise needed to complete the project?
• Is the team assigned to the project appropriate for the methodology and timetable proposed for the project?

Part 3 (max. 4 pages)
Description of the timetable and methodology
The organization or business must submit a timetable and an effective methodology for implementing the project, including:

• the timetable for completion, stating all major stages;
• detailed activities and deliverables for each stage;
• quality monitoring indicators for the project or activity.

Assessment criteria of the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology and timetable

• Does the methodology appear to be optimal for meeting the project objectives?
• Does the timetable seem realistic?

Part 4
Description of the financial structure
The organization or business must submit a detailed financial structure, including the contributions of other partners and collaborators, as applicable. The structure must include a breakdown by stage and by expenditure item. Applicants must use the standardized template provided (in French only).

Assessment criteria of the soundness of the financial structure

• Does the financial structure appear to meet the needs of the project, given the proposed methodology and resources?
• Does the financial breakdown by stages (and expenditure items) seem consistent with the effort described in the methodology and timetable?
• Does the project call for complementary funding from an outside partner? Is that funding confirmed?
• Will the project need complementary funding to ensure the sustainability of the deliverable?

Budget allocation

• The allocation process will seek to achieve diversity of projects, activities, tools and resources for the target audiences.
• If there are too few eligible proposals or if they do not meet the specified criteria, the city may forgo awarding the entire $400,000 allocated for this call for proposals. For the same reasons, it may also decide to transfer funds not used for one stream to the other. In all cases, the city may grant less than the initially requested or required funding (stream 1) or professional fee (stream 2) in the proposal by suggesting mutually agreed upon changes. 

Selection committee

• The selection committee is made up of professionals from the City of Montréal (Bureau du design, Service du développement économique, Service de l’urbanisme et de la mobilité, Service de la planification stratégique et de la performance organisationnelle, Service de la gestion et de la planification des immeubles, and a borough) and from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications.

Steps of the selection process

• Eligibility: The Service du développement économique will verify the eligibility of the applicant organizations and businesses.
• Analysis: The committee will examine the proposals deemed eligible using the assessment criteria matrix above, and establish the list of proposals chosen for the next step—the interview. 
• Interview: The representatives of the chosen organizations and businesses will be invited to a 30-minute online interview. They will have the opportunity to present their proposals orally and interact with the committee members, answering more detailed questions or by reframing certain aspects of their proposals so that they tie in better with the project goals, the stated criteria and the available funding amounts. 
• Final selection: After the interviews, the committee will make its final selection and issue recommendations for funding allocation and service contract amounts. The organizations and businesses will be informed of these recommendations, after which they may decide to move on to the next step.
• Agreements and approval: For each selected proposal, an agreement will be signed between the city and the organization or business. The agreements, whether for funding or service contracts, will be submitted for approval by the relevant decision-making bodies, after which the work may begin. These formalities are expected to take at least four to eight weeks.

• Launch of call for proposals: May 23, 2023
• Submission deadline: July 7, 2023, 11:59 p.m.
• Proposal analysis: week of July 19, 2023
• Interviews: July-August 2023 (depending on availabilities and vacations)
• Final selection: mid-August 2023 (depending on availabilities and vacations)
• Preparation and signature of agreements: before the end of August 2023
• Approval by various bodies and start of work: September-October 2023
• Follow-up of projects and work: continuous, through the end of 2024
• Final program report and accountability: January-February 2025

An online information session, open to all, took place on June 7. 

You may also write to [email protected] until June 22 (11:59 p.m.) or refer to the FAQ file below.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Q1. Can we submit a proposal to distribute an existing tool via the Quality Toolkit?

A1. Yes, it’s possible to submit a proposal for the adaptation and distribution of an existing tool that meets general and specific goals of this call for proposals, and that is aimed at the target audiences identified.

Q2. Our firm has an active purchase order with the Service du développement économique. Are we eligible to submit a proposal?

A2. Yes, but only if the proposal is worth less than $25,000 (all taxes included), in compliance with the rotation rules for Ville de Montréal suppliers.

Q3. Our organization would like some clarifications on the expectations regarding the “start of work” scheduled for fall 2023. Does this mean having started processes, sent out RFPs, set timelines and deadlines, etc., or are the expectations more concrete, e.g., is there a requirement for some initial deliverables by the fall of 2023? On the subject of project tracking, are there intermediate deliverables, or a progress report to submit?

A3. The start of work in the fall of 2023 means that all of the legal and contractual processes are complete and the projects can begin. The project timetable that you include with your proposal should have a start date of fall 2023 and an end date no later than December 31, 2024. As for the steps and deliverables, yes, the project should be structured as a series of steps. For organizations, these steps are accountability milestones linked to payment requests. These milestones will allow us to track the quality of project progress.

Q4. The Quality Toolkit covers design and architecture; is the call for proposals also aimed at general and trade contractors?

A4. The Quality Toolkit is aimed at all parties involved in implementing urban projects; as such, it also aims to support the work of general and trade contractors.

Q5. Can the beneficiary organization include outside experts (firms) on its team? If so, is there a percentage limit to the number of subcontractors?

A5. Yes, it is possible for beneficiary organizations to contract out part of the services required to complete the project. No, there is no percentage limit on subcontractors, but the requesting organization must show that it will be performing the main project tasks and that only certain subsidiary (or specialized) tasks will be contracted out. In addition, there must be no actual or perceived conflict of interest between the organization and the outside firm engaged.

Q6. Is it mandatory for the project to include a promotion component to the target audience, or is it enough to add the tool to the Toolkit, given that you are already promoting the Toolkit?

A6. Yes. The proposal must include an effective communications strategy for reaching the target audiences, so as to contribute to the overall awareness-raising effort.

Q7. Out organization does not meet the eligibility criteria, since we are recently constituted (less than two years in operation). Can we be part of a consortium with another non-profit organization and submit a joint proposal? If so, must both organizations meet the eligibility criteria? Or would we be considered a subcontractor of the main proponent?

A7. The organization that signs the financial contribution agreement must meet the eligibility criteria in the call for proposals. As such, a newly formed consortium (or an organization newly constituted specifically to respond to the call for proposals) is not compliant. The subcontracting scenario you refer to, however, is compliant (see the answer to Question 5, above, which also concerns a subcontractor organization).

Q8. Can a non-profit organization submit a proposal under Stream 2 to obtain a contract for professional services?

A8. Yes, but the scopes of the agreements for Streams 1 and 2 differ:

• Stream 1 provides financial support for a project or activity (the organization manages and retains ownership of its project);
• Stream 2 awards a contract for professional services (the selected proponent carries out a project managed by the Ville de Montréal, which retains ownership of the final product).

The text describing Stream 2 in the call for proposals has been amended to better reflect this possibility. The amendement are highlighted in square brackets as follows: “companies [and organizations]”.

Q9. We notice that Stream 1 is meant primarily for NPOs, but also seems to be addressed to co-ops. Can a co-op submit a proposal? If yes, are the remaining eligibility criteria the same?

A9. Yes, a co-operative can submit a proposal under Stream 1, and the eligibility criteria are the same.

Q10. Can you clarify what is meant by “accessible (at lower cost)” in the assessment criteria?

A10. The project, activity or tool must be accessible by as many people as possible and at low cost. For example, in the case of a subsidized project, if it includes an event-type component with paid admission, the content of the event must be available in a format accessible to everyone (digital format, public exhibition, etc.).

Q11. Can a user survey protocol be considered a deliverable that can be incorporated into the Quality Toolkit?

A11. Yes. A survey protocol is a deliverable that can be incorporated into the Quality Toolkit.

Q12. We understand that the results may be used in whole or in part by the City of Montréal, but does the agreement state that the research outcomes or project results/products remain the intellectual property of the selected proponents, who may continue to use them in other contexts complementary to the uses made by the Ville?

A12. For both streams of the call for proposals, the intellectual property clauses found in the City of Montréal’s standard agreements will apply. They are as follows [note: the clauses have been freely translated from the original French agreements, which are the sole legally binding versions]: 

• Financial contribution agreement (Stream 1): The intellectual property rights pertaining to the reports, documents and products to be delivered under this Agreement (hereinafter, the “Reports”) belong exclusively to the Organization, as do the related property rights. The Organization The Organization hereby grants to the Ville a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to use, publish, adapt, modify, translate and copy the Reports in whole or in part.

• Professional services agreement (Stream 2) – excerpt from clause: The Contractor assigns to the Ville all of its intellectual property rights pertaining to the reports, studies and other documents produced under the terms of this agreement and waives its moral rights.

Q13. The tools in the Toolkit are all hosted directly on the website. Is it possible to submit a proposal for an external digital platform distributed in the Design Montréal Toolkit with a clickable link?

A13. No. The proposal must be for a means of directly communicating the content in the Toolkit itself (e.g., direct access to certain tools, a tutorial and presentation of the platform and the main content, a backgrounder and template to assist in managing initiatives). A link to an external platform could be provided as complementary information.

Q14. For Stream 2, is there any way to amend the intellectual property rights clauses in the agreement, in whole or in part?

A14. For proposals chosen by the selection committee, it will be possible to consider requests for amendments to the City of Montréal’s standard agreements, in collaboration with the city’s Legal Affairs department, when the agreements are being drawn up.

Q15. Our organization would like to submit a proposal for a personalized support and guidance service for architecture and design firms; would the grant cover only the cost of developing such a service, or can the support and guidance service itself be covered, so that firms could use it free of charge?

A15. The costs of developing and implementing the personalized support and guidance service may be eligible.