Diversity and inclusion in procurement: Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates—June 10, 2022

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Increasing Indigenous involvement in procurement

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Shared Services Canada (SSC) Indigenous Procurement:

Background

PSPC is working with Indigenous groups to increase their participation in federal procurement more broadly. This includes ongoing work with the Indigenous Business COVID-19 Taskforce, which brings together numerous Indigenous groups, including the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), National Aboriginal Capital Corporation Association (NACCA), Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada. The taskforce seeks to identify and mobilize Indigenous businesses to provide medical equipment and supplies, including by creating a database of Indigenous businesses. Indigenous Services Canada is the lead department federally, with PSPC supporting the taskforce’s work. PSPC is leveraging this database to increase the participation of Indigenous businesses in federal procurement.

PSPC also works in collaboration with the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO), a national Indigenous organization involved in community economic development. The partnership is focused on helping the council and its economic development officers support Indigenous businesses across Canada by providing information, focused access, and services from Procurement Assistance Canada.

Furthermore, the Minister’s Supplier Advisory Committee contributes to understanding and addressing barriers that smaller businesses face in federal procurement, including those faced by Indigenous-owned businesses. The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Suppliers Council (CAMSC), represented by its President Cassandra Dorrington, has been an active and contributing member since the Supplier Advisory Committee’s first meeting in 2013.

Overview of diversity and inclusion in procurement

Key messages

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SSC increasing diversity of suppliers:

Background

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’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 facilitates 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 supplier diversity program outlining how the policy will be implemented and applied is currently under development.

PSPC also recently completed 2 requests for information to better understand the procurement experience of businesses owned or led by persons with disabilities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 2-spirit and others (LGBTQ2+) community.

Moving forward, a common federal approach to the definition and certification of equity‑deserving groups will be essential to 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.

Throughout spring 2022, PSPC engaged with industry, including equity-deserving groups, to co-develop the supplier diversity program and the Black entrepreneurship procurement program. PSPC also sought 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 supplier diversity program.

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