Social procurement overview: Committee of the Whole—May 19, 2022
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Diversity and inclusion in procurement
In this section
Key data points
- Budget 2021 proposed $87.4 million over 5 years, and $18.6 million ongoing, to modernize federal procurement and to create opportunities for specific communities such as Indigenous peoples, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 2-spirit and others (LGBTQ2+) Canadians, racialized Canadians, and young people
- January 2021, PSPC launched the Black businesses procurement pilot
- May 2021, Policy on Social Procurement came into effect
- Spring 2022, PSPC will engage with industry and equity-deserving groups to co-develop the Program on Social Procurement and the Black Entrepreneurship Procurement Program
- July 1, 2022, PSPC will begin to launch concrete actions to begin program implementation
Current initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion
- Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has been working to address inequities since 2018, by modernizing its procurement practices and encouraging suppliers from diverse backgrounds to be a part of the federal supply chain
- This included a 2-year socio-economic procurement experimentation Cycle, from 2018 to 2020, which aimed to leverage the government’s significant purchasing power to pursue socio-economic outcomes through procurement. The department also undertook a Black businesses procurement pilot in 2021 to expand procurement opportunities for Black entrepreneurs
- Budget 2021 and the 2021 mandate letter reconfirmed the government’s commitment to social procurement, including supplier diversity, to support procurement opportunities for specific communities
- PSPC also recently released 2 requests for information to better understand the procurement experience of businesses owned or led by persons with disabilities and the LGBTQ2+ community
- As part of its efforts to diversify the federal supply chain, PSPC has issued requests for information (RFIs) to gather input from Canadian Black businesses, businesses owned or operated by persons with disabilities as well as businesses owned or led by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and two-spirited community
- The feedback gathered through the RFIs will be used to expand the use of targeted approaches to increase diversity in federal procurements
- Moving forward, a common federal approach to the definition and certification of underrepresented groups will be essential to mitigate the risk of fraud and ensure that contracts related to social procurement initiatives are awarded to the targeted groups
- This will require collaboration across federal organizations. PSPC currently uses self-attestation to certify suppliers, however some stakeholders have been advocating for third-party certification
- In spring 2022, PSPC will be engaging with industry, including equity-deserving groups, to co-develop the program on social procurement and the Black entrepreneurship procurement program. PSPC will also seek their views on the best approach to definitions and certifications
- Through these engagements, PSPC will work towards the launch of concrete actions for program implementation on July 1, 2022. This will include guidance and tools for the procurement community to begin implementing a program on social procurement
Policy on social procurement
- PSPC’s Policy on Social Procurement came into effect in May 2021, which allows the department to create targeted approaches to increase diversity and inclusion in PSPC procurement and leverage trade agreements that permit socio-economic procurement
- More specifically, the policy will facilitate the inclusion of socio-economic measures in PSPC procurement to support the goal of achieving best value for the Crown and, in turn, for Canadians. A program on social procurement outlining how the policy will be implemented and applied is currently under development
- The policy was developed as part of the departments commitment to leverage its purchasing power to achieve socio-economic objectives and increase supplier diversity. The policy will also contribute to reducing barriers and enhancing economic and social opportunities for underrepresented groups, such as Indigenous peoples, Black and racialized Canadians, women, LGBTQ2+ Canadians and other underrepresented groups
- Including socio-economic objectives in federal procurement improves best value for Canadians by balancing spending with achieving important policy goals
- These objectives include, but are not limited to, enhancing market competition, job creation, economic and social advantages flowing from purchases from small and medium enterprises or social purpose organizations, encouraging socially-responsible business conduct, as well as advancing diversity and inclusion
Definition and certification of underrepresented groups
- Definition and certification are important aspects of social procurement initiatives
- A common federal approach to the definition and certification of underrepresented groups will be essential to mitigate the risk of fraud and ensure that contracts related to social procurement initiatives are awarded to the targeted groups
- In the spring of 2022, Public Services and Procurement Canada will engage with stakeholders, most notably from underrepresented groups, to identify approaches to definition and certification in social procurement and co-develop the program on social procurement and the Black entrepreneurship program
- On July 1, 2022, Public Services and Procurement Canada will begin to launch concrete actions to begin program implementation
- Public Services and Procurement Canada currently uses self-attestation to certify suppliers, however some stakeholders have been advocating for third-party certification
Social procurement
In this section
Key data points
- In fiscal year 2020 to 2021, 56% of the value and 73% of the volume of contracts awarded by Shared Services Canada (SSC) went to small and medium enterprises (SME)
- dollar value: $569,000,000
- In fiscal year 2020 to 2021, 96% of the value and 98% of the volume of SSC contracts awarded to small and medium enterprises were awarded to Canadian SMEs
- dollar value: $545,000,000.00
- In 2021, 2.5% of the value and 7.0% of the volume of SSC-funded contracts were awarded to Indigenous businesses
- dollar value: $44,747,608
Indigenous procurement
- Indigenous businesses are under-represented in federal procurements. To advance reconciliation and improve socio-economic outcomes for Indigenous peoples, the Government of Canada has committed to award at least 5% of federal contracts to Indigenous businesses
- Over the past 3 full years:
- in 2019, 1.5% of the value and 4.8% of the volume of SSC-funded contracts were awarded to Indigenous businesses
- dollar value: $35,850,381.82
- in 2020, 4.1% of the value and 3.9% of the volume of SSC-funded contracts were awarded to Indigenous businesses
- dollar value: $42,149,537.84
- in 2021, 2.5% of the value and 7.0% of the volume of SSC-funded contracts were awarded to Indigenous businesses
- dollar value: $44,747,608
- in 2019, 1.5% of the value and 4.8% of the volume of SSC-funded contracts were awarded to Indigenous businesses
- In 2021, SSC procured contract from indigenous businesses for:
- Information technology (IT) hardware and software
- IT professional services
- IT maintenance services
- office and administration
- telecommunications and voice equipment
- network equipment
- telecommunications professional services
- management support
- SSC is also leading scale up, a social procurement pilot which simplifies the bidding process. The objective is to increase access to SSC procurements for micro and small enterprises, which include Indigenous and under-represented groups, and give a better chance to suppliers who have never dealt with the Government of Canada
Shared Services Canada procurement modernization: Strategic Engagement Committee
- The SSC procurement modernization—Strategic Engagement Committee provides a forum for industry associations, experts, and SSC representatives to propose, analyse and recommend means to improve and modernize procurement practices, including measures that promote the participation of SMEs. Membership includes:
- TECHNATION
- Canadian Information Technology Providers Association
- Canadian Business Information Technology Network
- Council of Canadian Innovators
- Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce
- Canadian LGBTQ2+ Chamber of Commerce
- Canadian Aboriginal Minority Supplier Council
- Women Business Enterprises Canada
Centre of Expertise in agile and innovative procurement
- In 2019, SSC established the Centre of Expertise in Agile and Innovative Procurement, which has piloted utilizing an open business intelligence platform, “TECH2GOV” digital marketplace, to access hundreds of Canadian technology companies that can provide immediate solutions in their areas of specialization. The TECH2GOV digital marketplace has already led to significant increases in participation from SMEs in the pilots we have run
- The centre has also successfully implemented agile procurement process 3.0, a new procurement methodology that will simplify some IT procurement processes, making them faster and easier for all parties, increasing participation from vendors
- Agile procurement process 3.0 was developed through extensive consultation and collaboration with industry stakeholders, including TECHNATION, and will benefit all vendors involved in SSC procurement for IT goods and services
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