Quick Answer: Ontario school boards procure shipping containers two ways: through the Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (OECM) vendor-of-record agreement, or via a board-issued RFP under the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. Van Blanc supplies containers for sports storage, drama props, music instruments, and daycare overflow across Ontario boards from our 4 Brantford yards.
The municipal cousin of this file, arenas, parks yards, and works departments, gets its own procurement walkthrough in the municipal container guide.
In This Guide
- Where Do School Boards Actually Use Shipping Containers?
- What Is the OECM Vendor-of-Record Route?
- How Does the BPS Directive RFP Route Work?
- How Does AODA Path-of-Travel Apply on School Grounds?
- What Are the Child-Safety Placement Standards?
- Container Storage vs Portable Classroom: Which Does a Board Need?
- How Is Container Pricing Set for School Boards?
- How Does a Multi-Year Board-Wide Rotation Work?
- How Do You Work With a Board CFO and Procurement Officer?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Reading Time: 14 minutes
Where Do School Boards Actually Use Shipping Containers?
School boards use shipping containers mainly as secure outdoor storage rather than as classrooms. The most common board uses are sports-equipment storage beside the field house, drama prop and costume archives by the auditorium, music and percussion overflow, daycare and early-years supplies, and custodial or maintenance inventory. Each routes through facilities and capital spending, a faster path than instructional approvals.
Most procurement conversations with Ontario school boards start with portable classrooms, but the bigger container demand sits one step over from instructional space. A 20ft Wind & Watertight container next to the field house holds 6-8 sport seasons worth of equipment, locks securely, and survives an Ontario winter without rusting through. We deliver these to elementary, secondary, and post-secondary athletics departments across the province in 1-3 days from our 4 Brantford yards.
Paul LeBlanc, who founded Van Blanc in 1995, has watched what schools actually order. “A board calls about a portable classroom and ends up buying a storage container,” he says. “The classroom problem is rare. The where-do-we-keep-the-hockey-gear problem is every school. We have been solving that one for Ontario boards for 30 years, and a Wind and Watertight 20ft does it for a fraction of the trouble.”
Drama Department Prop and Costume Storage
Theatre programs accumulate decades of sets, flats, costume racks, and prop crates. Most schools store this in a hallway closet until the closet is needed for something else, and then the prop archive gets thrown out and the program loses its institutional memory. A 40ft container parked alongside the auditorium loading door holds 30 years of accumulated theatre history with climate-stable steel walls.
Music Instrument and Equipment Overflow
Band rooms, orchestral programs, and post-secondary music faculties store percussion racks, marching band gear, instrument cases, music stands, and sheet-music libraries. The 40ft High Cube gives the extra foot of headroom for tall percussion cases and standing instrument racks. We have shipped these to school boards across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area with the same 1-3 day lead time as residential deliveries.
Daycare and Early Years Overflow
Boards running before-school and after-school programs (and the post-secondary institutions running early childhood education labs) need somewhere to store nap mats, oversized toys, seasonal supplies, and outdoor equipment that cycles in and out of weekly use. A 20ft container behind the daycare wing keeps it accessible without consuming inside floor area that should be programmable space for children.
Maintenance and Custodial Inventory
Every facility maintenance department needs somewhere to keep snowblowers, lawnmowers, salt bins, paint inventory, and seasonal swap-out tools. The custodial container is usually the easiest sale to a school board because the maintenance manager already knows what they need and the purchase order moves through capital rather than instructional spending.
The pattern across every Ontario board we have supplied for 30 years is the same. The container is not the classroom. The container is the inventory backstop that lets the classroom function. That distinction matters for procurement, because it routes through facilities and capital spending rather than instructional program approvals, which is a faster path through the board administration in almost every case.
What Is the OECM Vendor-of-Record Route?
The Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace runs a re-tendered Modular Buildings and Portable Classrooms vendor-of-record agreement covering supply, delivery, and installation of modular buildings and portable classrooms compliant with Ontario safety codes and building regulations. OECM is a not-for-profit collaborative sourcing partner serving Ontario education sector, broader public sector, and other not-for-profit organizations.
How the OECM Marketplace Works for Boards
OECM negotiates competitively-sourced contracts with over 600 supplier partners on behalf of Ontario’s publicly funded education institutions. Roughly two-thirds of Ontario’s education sector uses the OECM Marketplace. Boards that participate can place orders against the vendor-of-record agreement without running their own competitive tender, because the underlying procurement was already conducted by OECM in compliance with the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive and applicable trade agreements.
Three things to know about the OECM route before your board commits:
- Optional participation. OECM is a 100% optional service for school boards. That is the right pathway for an actual portable classroom replacement. It is more procurement weight than a board needs for an equipment-storage 20ft sea can.
- Vendor capacity matters. OECM lists multiple vendors with different specialties. Van Blanc supplies the shipping container shell. A modular classroom requires the full conversion package (windows, doors, HVAC, electrical, ramp). Most boards we work with separate the two procurements: storage containers from us directly, classroom modulars through OECM-listed full-conversion vendors.
How Does the BPS Directive RFP Route Work?
Boards that procure outside the OECM agreement run their own competitive process under the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. Christian LeBlanc has watched this side of the procurement world tighten up steadily over the past few years. “Boards used to issue purchase orders for storage containers the same way they ordered office furniture,” he says. “Now even a single 20ft sea can over a certain dollar threshold has to go to RFP or invitational quote depending on the board’s procurement policy. We support both paths.”
What Boards Typically Include in a Container RFP
- Container specification: size (20ft, 40ft, 40ft HC), grade (One-Trip, Cargo Worthy, Wind & Watertight), condition disclosure
- Delivery requirements: tilt-deck capability, site access constraints, time window (after-hours or weekend to avoid student-arrival overlap)
- Insurance and WSIB: proof of commercial general liability, fully insured carrier documentation, WSIB clearance certificate
- Pricing transparency: all-in delivered price, no fuel surcharges or per-kilometre add-ons after the fact
- Vendor of record: evidence of past board deliveries, references, years in operation
- Sustainability statement: increasingly common, especially around reused versus new manufacturing footprint
The 30-year-in-business answer is what carries us through most board RFPs. Paul LeBlanc started Van Blanc in 1995, and we have been delivering to Ontario education institutions for the entire stretch. That tenure shows up in references, in repeat board orders, and in the fact that our deliveries do not damage school grounds or block bus loops.
How Does AODA Path-of-Travel Apply on School Grounds?
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Design of Public Spaces Standard sets minimum accessibility requirements for outdoor public spaces including public sidewalks, parking facilities, and outdoor play spaces. The forthcoming K-12 Education Standard adds technical requirements for physical accessibility in school buildings and outdoor accessibility.
For a container placed on school grounds, the AODA concern is not the container itself. It is the path of travel around the container. A 20ft sea can dropped in the middle of a playground walkway, or one that blocks a wheelchair-accessible route between a portable and the main building, creates an accessibility barrier that the board’s facilities team is responsible for designing.
What We Do, What the Board Does
Van Blanc delivers the container to a placement spot designated by the board’s facilities or capital planning department. We do not select the location, design the path of travel around it, or evaluate the site for AODA compliance. That work belongs to the board, usually in consultation with the architect of record for the school or the board’s accessibility officer. We position the container exactly where the facilities lead points, on a level pad, with doors oriented as specified, and leave the surrounding grounds undisturbed.
Boards we have worked with for years have a standard placement diagram for storage containers that maintains clear approach areas, keeps the doors away from primary student paths, and positions the unit so that snow clearing and equipment-loading vehicles can access it without crossing accessible routes. The placement diagram is usually approved by the board’s health and safety committee before the order is placed.
What Are the Child-Safety Placement Standards?
Every board has its own child-safety standard for outdoor installations on school grounds. Common themes across the boards we have supplied:
- Distance from student gathering areas. Containers are placed away from primary recess yards, lunch eating areas, and bus loading zones. A 20ft container should not be where 800 kids walk past it every recess.
- Lockable doors with secured latch. Container doors must lock from the outside with a tamper-resistant latch. Students should not be able to open the doors casually, and the doors should never close on someone inside accidentally.
- Sight-line considerations. Containers should not create hidden alcoves between the container and a fence or wall where students could be out of staff sight during recess. Boards generally require either a flush-to-wall placement or a 1.5 metre or greater offset that keeps the space behind visible.
- Climbing prevention. Some boards specify roof access prevention (a railing strip along the top edge), particularly when the container is placed within view of an outdoor play area. Roof access on a standard 20ft requires a ladder or adjacent structure, but board policy is what it is.
- Hazardous material exclusion. Containers used for student-accessible storage (drama props, sports gear) cannot share space with cleaning chemicals, paint, or fuel. Boards keep those in separate maintenance-only containers.
None of these standards are AODA driven. They come from the board’s own child-safety policy and from Ministry of Education capital planning guidance. We have shipped to enough boards that we know what the standard placement looks like before we arrive, but the responsibility for the standard sits with the board.
Container Storage vs Portable Classroom: Which Does a Board Need?
A common procurement question is whether a shipping container can substitute for a traditional portable classroom. A board that needs instructional overflow space for a growing student population needs a portable classroom and should route through OECM or a full RFP with classroom modular vendors. We cover that side of the decision in our walkthrough on turning a container into instructional space for a board. A board that needs to get the band equipment out of the music room storage closet needs a 40ft container and can usually buy it through a much simpler process.
How Is Container Pricing Set for School Boards?
Our pricing for school boards is the same as our pricing for any other Ontario buyer. We do not run an education discount or a contractor markup. The board pays what the farmer pays, what the construction company pays, what the homeowner pays.
| Container Type | Usable Floor Area | Interior Height | Door Opening (W x H) | Best-Fit Board Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft Standard Dry | about 150 sq ft (5.9 m x 2.35 m) | 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) | 2.34 m x 2.28 m | Daycare overflow, custodial inventory, single-sport equipment |
| 40ft Standard Dry | about 305 sq ft (12.0 m x 2.35 m) | 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) | 2.34 m x 2.28 m | Sports seasons, drama props, music library overflow |
| 40ft High Cube | about 305 sq ft (12.0 m x 2.35 m) | 2.69 m (8 ft 10 in) | 2.34 m x 2.58 m | Tall percussion racks, standing flats, instrument cases |
Pricing varies by grade and current inventory, and you can see the sizes and grades a board can order before you ever request a quote. Delivery is quoted separately based on distance from our Brantford yards and tilt-deck access requirements. Every quote includes a real lead time, not a hopeful one.
What School Boards Choose Most Often
Boards almost always go with Wind & Watertight for sports, drama, music, and maintenance storage. The grade fits the use. Surface rust spots and minor cosmetic wear are fine when the container is behind the field house holding hockey gear. When appearance matters, like a community-facing daycare overflow or a sports facility entrance, boards step up to a factory-paint unit on its first voyage, what the industry calls one-trip because it made exactly one loaded crossing.
How Does a Multi-Year Board-Wide Rotation Work?
Boards with 50, 100, 200 schools in their footprint have multi-year capital planning cycles that include outdoor storage assets. The Toronto District School Board, York Region District School Board, Peel District School Board, and Halton District School Board all run on rolling capital plans that identify two or three years of school-by-school needs.
We have supplied boards on this rotation pattern for two decades. The pattern usually looks like this: a board identifies 8-15 schools per year that need an outdoor storage container as part of their facility refresh, the board’s capital planning team groups the deliveries into 3-4 logistical windows during the school year (March break, summer, fall break), and we deliver in batches against a master purchase order that covers the year. The mechanics of ordering several units on one purchase order are the same ones we lay out in our guide to buying several containers on a single order.
Why Batching Matters for Boards
Single-school orders cost the same as batched deliveries from our side, but the board’s facilities team saves significant coordination effort when 8 schools across the region get their containers in a single delivery week rather than across 8 individual procurements. We coordinate placement diagrams, site contact information, and delivery time windows with the board’s facilities coordinator in one meeting rather than 8.
Multi-year rotation also lets the board level its capital spending. Instead of one school year absorbing all the storage container budget, the cost is distributed across the rolling plan and predictable as a line item year over year.
How Do You Work With a Board CFO and Procurement Officer?
The two people we talk to most often on the board side are the Superintendent of Business or CFO, and the procurement officer who reports into that office. The conversation goes the same way every time.
The CFO wants to know three things: total cost, capital versus operational classification, and whether the procurement passes audit. Total cost is straightforward, capital classification depends on whether the container is treated as a 25-year fixed asset (most boards) or as expensable, and audit pass depends on whether the procurement followed the board’s policy threshold rules.
The procurement officer wants to know how to write the requisition. We have supplied enough boards that we can provide the language they need for the requisition, the vendor onboarding paperwork (insurance, WSIB, references), and the standard specification language for storage containers. That saves the procurement officer 2-3 hours of policy writing per requisition.
Christian LeBlanc, second-generation operator: “Some of the procurement officers we work with have been ordering containers from us longer than I have been working in the yard. Paul built those relationships over 30 years, and they trust the family business the same way the farmers and contractors do. The product is honest, the price is honest, the lead time is real. That is what school boards want from a vendor of record.”
For boards that have never bought a storage container before, we walk through the placement diagram, the delivery logistics, the AODA-and-child-safety responsibilities that sit with the board, and the multi-year rotation option if it applies. Most boards make their second purchase within 18 months of the first, because the storage problem the first container solved exists in 12 more locations across the board’s footprint.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can my school board buy a container without running a competitive tender?
Often yes, depending on dollar value and the board’s procurement policy. Most Ontario boards have a threshold below which a direct purchase or invitational quote is allowed. Above that threshold, the procurement goes to RFP under the BPS Procurement Directive, or through the OECM vendor-of-record agreement which satisfies the directive without a board-run tender.
Is Van Blanc on the OECM vendor-of-record list?
We supply shipping container shells directly to school boards across Ontario. The OECM Modular Buildings and Portable Classrooms agreement covers fully-converted instructional portable structures. Boards we work with usually procure storage containers from us directly and use OECM-listed vendors for classroom modulars where the full conversion package is required.
How fast can Van Blanc deliver to a school board location?
Standard delivery is 1-3 days to every region across Ontario from our 4 Brantford yards. For school board deliveries we schedule the delivery window to avoid student arrival, dismissal, and recess times. Most board deliveries happen after 4 p.m. on a school day or during a weekend or break.
What size container do most school boards order?
The 40ft Standard Dry is the most common school board order for sports equipment, drama storage, and music overflow. The 20ft is common for daycare overflow and maintenance custodial inventory. The 40ft High Cube goes to drama departments that need to store tall standing flats and percussion racks with the extra foot of headroom.
Who is responsible for AODA compliance around the container?
The school board, in consultation with the board’s accessibility officer and the architect of record for the school. Van Blanc delivers the container to a placement spot designated by the board’s facilities team. We do not select the location or evaluate AODA path-of-travel compliance. That work sits with the board.
How long do shipping containers last on school property?
25 years or more with basic maintenance. The Corten weathering steel resists rust, the cargo doors hold their seals if hinges are kept lubricated, and the floor (when stored on a level pad) does not flex. We have supplied containers to Ontario schools in the late 1990s that are still standing where the maintenance team put them.
Can a school board lease rather than buy?
Yes. We offer leasing options for commercial accounts including school boards. Leasing makes sense for short-term overflow during a school renovation or a temporary program expansion. For permanent storage needs, purchase usually works out cheaper inside 4-5 years.
What about post-secondary institutions, not just K-12?
Same procurement framework, same product, same pricing. Conestoga College, Mohawk College, university athletics departments, and faculty of education early childhood labs all run on the same Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive that K-12 boards run on. OECM serves the broader public sector including colleges and universities.
Do you accept board purchase orders and standard board paperwork?
Yes. We work with board purchase orders, vendor onboarding paperwork, WSIB clearance certificates, certificate-of-insurance requirements, and the standard payment terms boards use. Paul LeBlanc set up Van Blanc to handle commercial and institutional account terms from the start in 1995.