Licensing Programs

Provincial Licensing

Once a year, OLS aggregates orders from libraries for a selection of e-resources products, to maximize discounts and expand the resources available

Supplemental Licensing

These e-resources are offered annually as discounted purchases that libraries order individually, and participating vendors invoice libraries directly.

Consortia Canada

Products made available through OLS’s participation in country-wide Consortia Canada offers. Licenses for these products are negotiated between the participating

Need help choosing e-resources prodcucts?

Download our E-resources Evaluation Forms. 

They list all the available products and give some criteria to help you make decisions.

Quick Fact about E-resources Licensing

  • Ordering for Provincial Licensing runs from Sept. 18 – Oct. 27, 2023.
  • Ordering for Supplemental Licensing runs from Sept. 25 – Nov. 3, 2023.
  • Each year, libraries need to place orders for all products, even if purchasing the same products as last year.
  • Pricing quoted to OLS by vendors is final, and individual libraries should not be offered off-list pricing. Should you have a different experience with any participating vendor, feel free to contact Beth Harding, as this practice undermines the value and purpose of a consortial purchasing program.
  • Pricing for 2024 based on population served will use the 2021 Census Data. (2022 orders were based on the 2016 Census Data)
  • Pricing based on the number of cardholders or circulation data will use the 2021 Ontario Public Library Statistics as provided by the Ministry.

What to become an e-resources vendor?

Submission for new vendors is now open for the Supplemental Licensing Program.  For information on the OLS licensing programs, please contact Beth Harding.