Government Office Catering in Ottawa

Two dates in a public-service year

Public offices in Ottawa gather around two points that every team shares. The first is December, when a directorate or a branch closes the calendar year with an afternoon together before the holidays. The second is the end of the fiscal year on March 31: the last team meeting of the year, a recognition afternoon, the wrap-up after a reporting cycle or an offsite that closes a project. Both fall on weekdays, both are planned weeks ahead by one organiser, and both need a quote someone else approves before the date is held.

The December holiday table

The holiday gathering in a government office is usually a weekday afternoon in the largest boardroom or a common area, grazed across two hours by a team that goes home to dinner afterwards. Plan on six to nine pieces per guest, which keeps the table at the bottom of the $42–$65 per guest range. Where the gathering runs from five as the team’s evening out, the table is built as the meal at ten to fourteen pieces per guest. The December detail for any workplace, including the after-hours format, is on our office Christmas party catering page.

The fiscal year-end table in March

The last two weeks of March are the second busy window for a public office: the year-end all-staff, the recognition of a team that delivered, the close of a reporting cycle. These are daytime events with a programme in the middle, so the table carries small, one-handed items that can be eaten standing during a speech, a brighter savoury mix than in December, and a sweet close for the moment the awards are handed out. Teams that want the event dated and invoiced inside the fiscal year should say so with the enquiry, and the quote is dated for the event.

Who organises, and who pays

In a public office the person who books the table is often a social committee volunteer, an administrative assistant or an office manager, and the money can come from the team itself, a collection, or an approved budget line. The paperwork follows whichever it is. A collection needs one total and a clear deposit and balance; a budget line needs an itemised quote, a purchase order where one is used and an invoice addressed to the unit. Tell us which applies in your first message.

The quote, the invoice and how payment is made

Every booking runs on one written quote that separates food, styling, delivery and travel, with the deposit and balance terms printed on it, plus applicable taxes. The invoice can be addressed to the department, the branch or the committee, with your cost centre or purchase order number on it. A 30% deposit and the signed quote hold the date, and the balance is due 3 days before. Payment methods differ between offices — an acquisition card, an invoice paid by the finance unit, a committee account — so name yours with the enquiry and the reply says how that payment is taken for your date.

Labels a large mixed team can read

A government team is one of the most varied guest lists a caterer meets, and the organiser rarely knows every dietary need in it. Every item carries a written card with its plain name first and its dietary markers second, the same markers across the whole surface: vegetarian, vegan and gluten-aware items marked, and any common allergen named. A serious allergy on the team is a conversation with us before the date. Halal and kosher preparation are things OH! cannot claim today, and we say so before a quote goes out.

The security desk and the loading door

Most government buildings in Ottawa sign visitors and suppliers in at a security desk, and some need the supplier’s name on a list ahead of the day. Send the building address, in Ottawa or in Gatineau, the entrance or loading door to use, whether the service elevator has to be booked, and the name of the person who will meet us, and the arrival time on the quote allows for the sign-in. The build then takes 45 to 90 minutes in the room, and the table is composed before the first person leaves a desk.

The documents a public buyer may ask for

Some offices and venues ask a supplier for documents before a booking: a certificate of insurance, a supplier registration, a tax number on the invoice. OH! has no liability policy in its own name today, so a certificate of insurance is something we cannot supply, and every price on the quote and the invoice is shown plus applicable taxes. Ask about any document your office needs in the first message, and you get a straight answer in writing before a date is held.

How a public-service team orders

Six answers turn an enquiry into a quote your approver can sign. An organiser can gather them in an afternoon.

• The date, the room, and the hours the room is booked for
• The head count you have today, with the final number due 7 days before
• December holiday table or March year-end, and whether the table is a graze or the meal
• Who pays: the team, a collection, or a budget line with a cost centre or purchase order number
• Building access: the security desk, the entrance or loading door, the service elevator and the name on the list
• Who signs the quote, since the signature and a 30% deposit hold the date

Where this page hands over

The December detail for any workplace is on our office Christmas party catering page, and client receptions, launches and appreciation events are on our corporate catering page. Working lunches and meeting-day food are on our office catering page. The published figures and the terms behind them are on our pricing page, and the sequence from enquiry to empty platters is on our how it works page.