Buy Social Canada April Newsletter
Here's the latest in social enterprise and social procurement news
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Training to buy and sell with impact |
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Education is an important tool as we work together to shape the social value marketplace. Buy Social Canada has a line up of training programs for both the demand and the supply sides of the marketplace scheduled for the remainder of 2022.
Through engaging virtual sessions and active participation, these courses will support you to develop the skills and knowledge you need to incorporate social value, and buy and sell with impact.
For purchasers, we offer the Social Procurement Professional Certificate. Join a supportive cohort for this four-week course while being guided through a comprehensive overview of what social procurement is, how to support change management in your organization, and how to create and implement a social procurement policy and framework, or strengthen the practices you already have in place.
To support supplier growth and capacity-building, we offer Procurement for Social Value Suppliers, and Storytelling for Social Value Suppliers, two courses offered as part of the SUPER Project, a suite of tools, resources and training to elevate the capacity of social enterprises and social value suppliers to access procurement opportunities.
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New Trade Agreements Local Briefing Note |
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A frequently asked question by organizations beholden to the trade agreements for certain procurements is “Can you include questions about, or requirements for, local employment or procurement where the trade agreements apply?”
This briefing note reviews different considerations for determining what language is appropriate for your bid.
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We're hiring a Manager of Social Enterprise and Engagement |
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Join the Buy Social Canada team as Manager of Social Enterprise and Engagement. This role will lead the Buy Social Canada Social Enterprise Certification program, support engagement with social enterprises across the country, and help with development of social procurement policies, implementation strategies and training. We are looking for someone with networking, relationship-building and facilitation skills to work with non-profits, and institutions, corporations and governments.
Our first preference is for candidates who live in or near Toronto, Ontario. This role will include attending and facilitating in-person engagements in Toronto as we transition back to in-person engagement opportunities. If you are not located in the Toronto area, we still welcome you to apply, and your qualifications will be considered along with your location and ability to meet on a regular basis in Toronto.
Deadline to apply is end of day on Monday April 18, 2022. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
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We are pleased to welcome Delnor Construction as a Buy Social Canada Purchasing Partner. As an organization founded on friendship, Delnor continues to recognize the importance of relationship and partnership with clients and the community. We look forward to working with the Delnor team to develop and implement a social procurement policy and implementation framework that reflects these important values.
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BCSPI Webinar: Write a Procurement Policy with Social Value |
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Join Larry Berglund at this BCSPI webinar to learn how to include social value in your Purchasing Policy on:
April 12, 2022
1-2pm PT / 4-5pm ET
This webinar will cover:
- What a policy should and shouldn’t contain
- Including social procurement values in a policy
- Social procurement policy purpose and key statements
- Policy procedure guides
- P-card procedures
- Examples of policy statements and reference template.
Non-members register here and use code BCBEST for free registration. |
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Social procurement engagement strengthens policy development in Peterborough |
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Stakeholder engagement is an essential part of developing, implementing, and iterating a procurement framework that seeks to create community impact.
Buy Social Canada recently hosted engagement sessions with the City of Peterborough and Peterborough community members to explore social procurement. We will use the engagement and feedback from community to inform the development of their social procurement policy and three-year implementation program.
Thank you to Peter Pula of Axiom News for hosting, and Yvonne Hollandy for capturing the event in her artwork, pictured above.
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Community input sought for social procurement in Newfoundland and Labrador |
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Further east, the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is seeking community input as they develop a Social Procurement Policy to enhance the social impacts of the government's purchasing activities. The Public Procurement Agency wants to hear from stakeholders to ensure that any newly developed policy meets the needs and expectations of both residents, vendors, advocacy groups, and industry leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Public Services and Procurement Canada socio-economic procurement pilots generated an expected social value of $107 million to $297 million
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In 2018, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) proposed and received approval to conduct a 2 year procurement experimentation cycle, to test approaches for achieving socio-economic outcomes through procurement. This experimentation cycle consisted of implementing and analyzing socio-economic procurement pilots.
The reported outputs as of July 1, 2020, from 28 awarded procurement pilots include:
- 55 underrepresented suppliers from underrepresented groups receiving contracts
- employment for 297 underrepresented persons accounting for an additional 3,714 hours of employment
- 8,655 hours of training provided to 350 underrepresented persons
Additionally, they conducted a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis on 15 pilots, which found that "the 15 procurement pilots generated an expected social value of $107 million to $297 million."
"Canada has the market capacity to incorporate underrepresented groups into public procurement by focusing on suppliers, employment, apprenticeship and community development opportunities," PSPC concludes.
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Inclusive and Sustainable British Columbia report released, emphasizes role of public procurement in community capital creation |
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A new report on the StrongerBC Economic Plan, conducted by Professor Mariana Mazzucato and her team at University College London, titled Inclusive and Sustainable British Columbia: a mission-oriented approach to a renewed economy, has been published by the Government of BC.
Buy Social Canada is pleased to see that the report emphasizes the critical role of public procurement in creating healthy, vibrant communities, and that the BC Government is committed to enacting changes in their procurement process to ensure best value.
Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, has released a statement, sharing that:
"This report underlines what we have said from the start. We need an economic plan that works for people. By investing in child care, affordable housing and committing to advancing true, lasting and meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, we believe an economy built for all is an economy built to succeed.
"This belief represents a substantial change in direction and decision-making from the previous government’s approach as our province prepares for a time of significant growth."
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Vancouver Social Enterprise Marketplace grand opening today |
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On April 5, Buy Social Canada, Budgie Box and 50 Million Meals are celebrating the grand opening of the Social Enterprise Marketplace at the Bentall Centre Pop-Ups, in the heart of Vancouver’s downtown core.
The Social Enterprise Marketplace offers the community an opportunity to purchase and learn more about the Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprises in their community.
RSVP to join us on today, April 5 from 2:30-4pm PT in Vancouver for a meet and greet, yummy treats, and a raffle.
The Marketplace, located at #304 595 Burrard Street in the retail concourse between Purdy’s Chocolate Shop and Canada Post, will be open from now until May 31. Hours of operation will run Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Thank you to Hudson Pacific for welcoming social enterprises to the Bentall Centre.
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Social enterprises create community capital by supporting immigrants and newcomers |
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Approximately one in four workers in Canada are immigrants, contributing to Canada’s growing labour force, local economies, and community wealth. These numbers are expected to increase steadily in the coming years, as is the need for more services to support them. How can we play our part in creating a more equitable, inclusive, and just society for immigrant and newcomer communities?
We can do that by supporting businesses employing and training immigrants and newcomers like MOSAIC Engage, a Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprise.
Photo courtesy of MOSAIC BC.
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New home for Potluck Café Society brings expanded services and employment as they celebrate 20-year legacy in the Downtown Eastside |
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The Potluck Café Society has opened its doors at a new location in Vancouver, taking on a much larger space to adapt to its expanded role as a social enterprise caterer—and marking a legacy of more than 20 years of service to the Downtown Eastside.
The brand-new premises at 298 East Hastings St, on the ground floor of a 12-story mixed use building, will serve as Potluck’s catering service and culinary training hub that has attracted loyal supporters from across Vancouver since 2001.
“The move to this larger, state-of-the-art facility will allow us to increase our capacity and our impact in the Downtown Eastside,” says Naved Noorani, Executive Director of the Potluck Café Society. “With a larger space and additional staff, we will be able to produce significantly more meals per week for residents of the Downtown Eastside community.”
Since opening its doors in 2001, Potluck has provided more than 325,000 hours of employment resulting in over $4 million in wages and facilitated serving over 600,000 nutritious meals to residents of the Downtown Eastside.
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Two Certified Social Enterprises among Western Living's top foodies of 2022 |
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The people behind two Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprises; Aart Schuurman Hess at Goodly, and Don Guthro and Quang Dang at D.I.C.E.D. Culinary, have been acknowledged by Western Living Magazine as Finalists in their round-up of 2022 Foodies of the Year.
Congratulations for this well-deserved recognition.
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Certified Social Enterprise Gateway Navigation collaborates on new accessibility technology |
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Gateway Navigation CCC, a Buy Social Canada certified social enterprise, is a key player in a recently launched Chrome web browser extension designed to make the graphics and images we share online more accessible to blind and low-vision users.
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We're proud to be a certified living wage employer in BC, Alberta and Ontario |
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910-1050 West Pender St
Vancouver, BC V6E 3S7
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