Request for Proposal: Member Research

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Member Research

FOR

The Ontario College of Family Physicians

Closing Date/Time:

May 12, 2026

No later than 5:00 PM EST

INTRODUCTION

The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) represents more than 18,000 family physicians and medical students, including residents, retired family physicians, including 15,000 members who are working in communities across the province providing care to patients. OCFP members care for Ontarians across the health system, in primary care offices, hospitals and emergency departments, urgent care centres and walk-in clinics, as well as through home and long-term care, palliative care and more. Our members serve as academics, researchers and instructors of the next generation of family physicians

We support our members by advocating for their well-being and providing health system leadership rooted in primary care. We provide practical tools, professional development, and peer support while also promoting and recognizing leadership excellence in family medicine. We advocate for the vital role family physicians play in delivering the highest quality care to patients and families across Ontario.

Based in Toronto, the OCFP is a not-for-profit organization and is the provincial chapter of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

OCFP is undertaking research to ensure we remain relevant and responsive to our members, and we are equipped to meet the continually evolving needs of family physicians. We invite you to submit a proposal to conduct research with our family physician membership on behalf of the OCFP.

1. PURPOSE

The OCFP’s vision, mission and values are articulated in our Strategic Plan 2024-2029.

To best position the OCFP to achieve our vision and strategic objectives and continue providing outstanding service to our members, it is critical to maintain an understanding of our members’ fundamental wants and needs. The OCFP gathers member input through professional development offering evaluations, focus groups, member emails, and other means. The OCFP commissioned third-party organizations to conduct member research in 2019 and 2023; the results helped inform the development of OCFP’s current Strategic Plan.

New member research in 2026, through both a survey and follow-up focus groups, will help the organization prioritize the activities that best support individual members and that represent their collective needs as family physicians today and in the future.

Information Needs:

The OCFP’s member research will be designed to inform the following areas:

1. Advocacy and Policy Direction: Top priorities for advocacy the OCFP should pursue on members’ behalf.
2. Professional Development: Clinical and practice management topics; delivery channels 3. Member Engagement: Communications formats and preferences, including knowledge translation (KT) needs.

Additional context on these three areas is provided below.

Advocacy, Policy and Health Care Reform:

Through past member research and other feedback mechanisms, members have asked the OCFP to intensify its advocacy efforts to ensure changes to the system that will allow family physicians to focus on what matters most – their patients. This means advocating for concrete steps that will retain and recruit family physicians in communities across Ontario and championing reforms to the health system that work for family physicians and the patients they serve.

The OCFP is seeking to conduct research with its members to help advance our understanding of, and approach to, advocacy, policy and health system reform, which will best address the issues that matter to family physicians. We seek to gain an advanced understanding of what supports family physicians need to thrive in their role, and what would alleviate the pressures they face. Ultimately, the results will provide a clear and detailed understanding of the issues of importance to our members and will provide OCFP staff with rich data from which we can advocate effectively on behalf of Ontario’s family physicians.

Professional Development and Practice Supports for Family Physicians:

OCFP’s offerings to date include structured learning opportunities, peer-based supports, and practice-enabling tools. These offerings include fee-based programs such as accredited continuing professional development and leadership programs, as well as a wide range of free supports available to all members, including communities of practice, clinical and knowledge translation tools, mentorship opportunities, and system navigation resources.

To effectively provide our members with the resources and support they need, it will be critical to understand members’ perceptions of the relevance, value, and accessibility of OCFP’s current offerings. This includes identifying gaps, unmet needs, and emerging priorities that may warrant future investment, as well as opportunities to refine delivery models or introduce new program formats. Insights gathered will inform OCFP’s prioritization of professional development and practice support initiatives to maximize impact and member engagement.

Member Engagement – Communications:

As part of its Strategic Plan, the OCFP is committed to championing the value of family physicians and amplifying the expertise of family physicians. We do this by magnifying and affirming the contributions of family physicians and their impact on Ontario’s patients and the broader healthcare system.

The OCFP has a strong communications portfolio, regularly engaging members to keep them up to date and to promote the value and rewards of family medicine through vehicles like the President’s Message. It is important for OCFP to maintain an informed understanding of its members’ information needs and communication preferences.

2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND NEEDS

The overall research objective is to deepen OCFP’s understanding of its members’ needs and perceptions so that the organization can best support members’ life-long professional development and learning, champion their work and the profession, advocate for their vital role, and engage them. The successful vendor will work closely with OCFP staff to undertake the design, planning and implementation of the research. The summary report of the findings will be used by the OCFP’s management team, the Board of Directors, and staff, to inform current and future work.

Specific areas that the OCFP wishes to better understand are outlined below.

Of note: the sub-topics are neither exclusive nor final and will be re-worked with the successful proponent. In addition to understanding members’ views of the OCFP overall, in an effort to optimize value for the membership, key themes to be explored are noted below.

a) Advocacy and Policy Priorities:

• Awareness and relevance of current OCFP advocacy
• Preferred focus and priority topics for OCFP action
• Pain points and innovations in family medicine o Identify key pain points members are facing in practice and how OCFP can help alleviate those o Identify innovations that may address the evolving nature and needs of family medicine
• OCFP leadership opportunities and stakeholder partnerships
• Level of member engagement with their Ontario Health Team (OHT)

b) Professional Development, Tools and Resources:

• Awareness, relevance, value and appeal of current OCFP professional development and practice supports
• Preferred delivery channels, times, topics
• Types of supports and resources that will best meet member needs
• Clinical and practice management pain points (also referenced in (a) above)

c) Member Awareness and Engagement:

• Opportunities for engaging with the OCFP
• Level of awareness, relevance and appeal of OCFP communications
• Preferred frequency, formats, and channels (including social media)

Baseline Data:

The successful vendor will be provided with the following baseline data and asked to consider benchmarking opportunities, particularly as it relates to changing member characteristics and clinical/practice pain points.

• Member Research Results from 2019 and 2023: Extensive mixed-method primary research was conducted with OCFP members to inform OCFP’s unique value offering and proposition. The research identified key themes across clinical and practice management topics, the role of the family physician, the role of OCFP and the changing CPD environment.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

As noted, the research must be designed to generate findings that directly inform organizational decision making, including advocacy positioning, professional development and prioritization of member supports. Proponents should demonstrate how their approach will produce clear, actionable insights that can be confidently used by the OCFP.

The successful vendor will provide the following services:

1. Analyze the OCFP’s past member research results to inform proposed research focus and identify ways to assess trends over time.
2. Design, plan and implement the research described in Section II, together with the OCFP staff team – starting with a member survey, followed by in-person and/or virtual focus groups to dive deeper into key themes.
3. Work with OCFP staff to discuss and validate the methodology and the desired outcomes of the member research.
4. For the survey, this will include:
   • Benchmarking questions to enable comparison with 2019 and 2023 survey results o Developing a survey that will take no more than 10-12 minutes to complete, with the ability for members to save their feedback and continue later, and thus complete in multiple phases
   • Testing the survey with a small group of family physicians (OCFP to provide) to identify any potentially confusing questions or technical issues before sending it to the entire membership
   • Developing member communications strategies to promote the survey and increase uptake while in the field, with OCFP input
   • Debriefing survey findings with the OCFP to inform and discuss focus group direction.
5. For the focus group, this will include:
   • Suggesting areas for focus, together with the OCFP o Determining number of focus groups and whether those should be done in-person and/or virtually o Leading the recruitment of focus group participants, with OCFP input on recruitment criteria o Developing member communications strategies to promote the focus groups, with OCFP input
6. Develop a detailed report, including data visualizations and summaries, with input from the OCFP team, as well as a detailed slide deck to present to the OCFP’s Board of Directors.
7. In addition to internal reporting, outline how findings can be translated into clear, accessible outputs suitable for advocacy and stakeholder engagement. And how results will be communicated back to members in a way that demonstrates responsiveness.

4. PROPOSAL FORMAT

Proponents are required to describe:

• Qualifications to undertake this work o Corporate name o Date of incorporation o Length of time in business o Survey experience, ideally with membership-based organizations o Focus group experience, in person and virtual o Point of contact
  • Number of staff, including their titles, proposed for this project and their hourly bill rates o Resumes of staff proposed for this project and clear description of lead and support staff.
• Methodology
  • Provide statement of understanding of project o Proposed family physician recruitment approach, in collaboration with the OCFP (see section III, points 4 and 5)
  • Articulate expected number of members reached through research plan o Propose schedule of deliverables; include major milestones, such as formal reviews of draft survey questionnaire and focus group guides, pilot review checkpoints, and clear sign off.
  • Describe the reporting process, through which you will keep OCFP informed.
• Relevant experience and references o 3 projects that showcase member research expertise o 3 professional references able to comment on relevant expertise, ideally related to member research.
• Fees
  • Breakdown of fees including hourly rates of team o Description of expenses
  • Total fees and expenses.
• Proponents may submit any other material which they believe will enhance their proposals.

The successful proponent, once engaged by the OCFP, will be expected to design a survey and focus groups that include the elements below. Showcasing the ability to understand and achieve these items will be valued as part of your proposal.

• Rationale for question inclusion, strategies to minimize the number of skipped questions or incomplete surveys, and the careful crafting of socio-demographic questions. As was done in our 2023 survey, the OCFP wishes to collect demographic and practice data including race-based data, practice model, geography, and experience serving marginalized communities.
• Enabling prioritization among issues and initiatives when designing the survey, including mechanisms that distinguish core priorities from secondary concerns.
• A survey approach that will avoid pitfalls such as leading or double-barreled questions and how to achieve a balance of qualitative vs quantitative questions.
• Details on how segmentation will be used analytically to surface meaningful differences in needs and perspective across the membership (i.e., by geography, practice model, career stage, etc.)
• Determining a target (range) for the survey response rate based on our membership numbers and in alignment with best practices for a statistically significant response.
• For the focus groups, rationale for determining number of sessions and whether those should be done inperson and/or virtually.
• Submitting a detailed, comprehensive work plan shortly after being selected and awarded the contract for these services.

5. EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF PROPOSALS

The OCFP team will review all proposals based on the specifications of this RFP and will score each proposal based on the criteria for selection outlined below.

Submissions will be assessed on the following marking scheme.

Criteria

Points

Adherence to requirements of RFP

Yes or No

Qualifications

20

Methodology

35

Relevant experience / references

25

Fees

20

Total

100

Submissions that do not adhere to the requirements of the RFP will be disqualified.

The OCFP may conduct interviews to further evaluate the qualifications of proponents and reserves the right to seek clarification and supplementary information relating to the clarification from proponents after the proposal submission deadline. The response to the request for clarifications received by OCFP from a proponent, shall, if accepted by OCFP, form an integral part of that proponent’s proposal.

Selection Process Schedule:

Description

Completion / Target Dates

RFP invitation issued

April 28, 2026

Submission of questions on RFP

April 28, 2026, to May 5, 2026, at 5 PM (EST)

Proposal closing date

May 12, 2026, by 5 PM (EST)

Interview period

May 13, 2026, to May 15, 2026,

Notification of successful proponent

May 19, 2026

6. BUDGET AND TIMELINES

For the successful proponent, expected timelines for key milestones are below.

Description

Completion / Target Dates

Latest start date

May 25, 2026

Detailed workplan to OCFP staff

June 2, 2026

Launch of survey

July 14, 2026

Final survey report

September 8, 2026

Focus groups

September – October 2026

Presentation of research results to OCFP board

November 20, 2026

Completion of work

December 11, 2026

The OCFP will acquire the services described in this RFP on a competitive basis to obtain the best value

• Proponents are expected to present a detailed budget of the costs associated with the proposed services.
• Price quotations must be inclusive of all costs and will be the only compensation paid to the successful proponent for the required services.
• All pricing quoted shall remain fixed for the duration of any service agreement awarded as a result of this RFP and until the completion of all specified deliverables.
• Provincial taxes and/or HST are extra as applicable under Ontario laws and shall be detailed within the proponent’s proposal.
• The expenses of any third-party tools or services required must be included in the quote and agreed upon under any service agreement awarded as a result of this RFP.
• Any additional charges over and above the quoted amount will need to be agreed upon in advance by the OCFP.

7. AWARD

The final selection of the successful proponent will be at the sole discretion of OCFP. Once the successful proponent is notified in writing by the OCFP and the OCFP executes the Agreement, the other proponents will be notified by the OCFP in writing of the outcome of the process. The successful proponent must agree that all information obtained shall be held in confidence and shall not be disclosed to any third party without the prior consent of the OCFP.

8. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Proponents must submit an electronic copy of the proposal via email. The proposal must be received by May 12, 2026, by 5 PM EST. Send proposals to Miriam Barna at mbarna@ocfp.on.cawith the subject line “Attn: RFP Submission”.

9. COMMUNICATIONS

Any questions, requests for information or clarification of the RFP may be submitted in writing to the attention of Miriam Barna at mbarna@ocfp.on.ca. These requests may be submitted up until 5 PM EST on May 8, 2026. No requests for information or clarification will be entertained after that time. All requests for information and clarification will be responded to by email and shared with all proponents.

10. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Submission of a proposal indicates acceptance by the proponent of the terms and conditions specified in the RFP. The proponent is deemed to have familiarized itself with the requirements of the project as set out in this RFP and is invited to request additional information as indicated.

All submissions received in connection with this RFP will become the sole property of the OCFP and will not be returned. All submissions must include a statement of authorization to bid signed by a principal of the responding company. All submissions must use the proposal format outlined in Section IV of this RFP.

Proponents must disclose any relevant conflicts of interest and/or pending lawsuits. Submissions that do not adhere to the RFP criteria will be disqualified.

OCFP retains full ownership of raw data, instruments and the outputs created.

The OCFP reserves the right to:

• Select any or all proponents to participate in an interview;
• Terminate the selection process at any time for any reason whatsoever without any further obligation on its part to the proponents;
• Determine how its needs can be met in any other manner at its own discretion; and,
• Modify or change requirements and will issue pertinent information required to communicate such changes.

The OCFP is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents in the preparation of their proposals.

11. OCFP OBLIGATIONS

• The OCFP’s staff and the CEO will provide comments on materials and reports received and act as a content resource and provide other assistance or support during the process.
• The OCFP staff and the CEO will be available to explain and present documents, show reports, and prepare supporting documentation as necessary.
• The OCFP will designate and provide one (1) OCFP key point of contact that will be responsible for responding to the successful proponent’s questions and issues relating to the Services.

12. PROPONENT’S QUALIFICATIONS AND OBLIGATIONS

• The proponent must advise the OCFP’s management immediately should any circumstances arise which causes the actual timeline for the deliverables to exceed the initial estimate.
• The proponent will designate one (1) point of contact that must be responsible for responding to the OCFP’s questions and issues relating to the Services.
• Neither this RFP nor any service agreement awarded hereunder may be assigned by the proponent without the prior written consent of the OCFP.

13. CONFIDENTIALITY

• All matters related to the RFP, the selection process, and information resulting from the process will be kept strictly confidential.
• Other than reports submitted to the OCFP, the proponent agrees not to publish, reproduce or otherwise divulge such information, in whole or in part, or authorize or permit others to do so, taking reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict information access to those employees on its staff and the OCFP’s staff who must have information on need-to-know basis.