The new year is quickly approaching! Start 2024 ready to develop or deepen your social procurement implementation by signing on as a Buy Social Canada Engage Member.

At $3,000 annually, the Engage Package is a low-cost, high-value option for organizations of any size to get started with social procurement or to maintain connection to evolving best practices.

With the Engage Package you get:

Contact Niamh O'Sullivan to get signed on and take your impact to the next level in 2024.

This holiday season, consider purchasing from a Certified Social Enterprise to give gifts that give back to community. When you #GiftSocial and buy from a social enterprise, you’re providing opportunities for community members who are facing personal and systemic barriers.

From chocolate, candles, furniture, clothing, jewelry and crafts, there are social enterprises that make the gifts you’d like to give. Whether you’re looking for personal gifts for family and friends, or for corporate gifts and catering in your organization, you can find Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprises in our directory for easy gifting.

Shop our #GiftSocial directory, and give a gift that creates healthy, vibrant communities.

Buy Social Canada encourages all purchasers to report on their social procurement spend and progress. However in our 2022 Buy with Impact report, none of the purchasers we surveyed had published public reports, and only 24% of them had something in development for future reporting.

Read our latest blog post to see how Government of Canada and City of Calgary have added social value questions for vendors on the procurement platform SAP Ariba to embed their data collection and streamline social procurement measurement and reporting.

Join us in person or online for David LePage’s retirement party to celebrate his incredible career and impacts in the social procurement and social enterprise ecosystem.

In person in Vancouver (limited space available)

DICED Discovery Cafe, 1515 Discovery St, Vancouver, BC V6R 4K5

Refreshments and canapes provided

Speeches begin at 3:30pm

3:30pm - 4:00pm PT / 6:30pm -7:00pm ET

Online via Zoom

For those that can't join in-person, we invite you to join the celebrations and the speeches virtually.

Register now.

Register now to save your spot in a cohort of the Social Procurement Professional Certificate course and take a deep dive on social procurement design, implementation and culture change.

Upcoming cohorts:

February 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2024 from 10am – 12pm PT / 1 – 3pm ET

(Application deadline: January 24; Early bird deadline: December 27)

April 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2024 from 10am – 12pm PT / 1 – 3pm ET

(Application deadline: March 26; Early bird deadline: February 27)

Register now to save your spot.

If you are a business actively searching for opportunities to sell to the Government of Canada, join Procurement Assistance Canada on December 19 from 12pm-1:30pm PT / 3pm-4:30pm ET.

This webinar provides an overview and demonstration of the key search features and functions on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS), including how to:

Register for the event.

If you operate a social enterprise, diverse-owned business or Indigenous business and you're in the Winnipeg area, or you may want to respond to a City of Winnipeg RFx in future, it's time to register on the City's new social procurement supplier registry.

Here's what the City has to say:

"By collecting data from suppliers who identify as Social Enterprises, Diverse-Owned Businesses, and/or Indigenous Businesses, we can provide City employees with the information needed to find and purchase from these businesses when appropriate. For example, City employees may refer to this supplier registry when putting together an Invitation to Quote, making low value purchases, and when utilizing Indigenous and social enterprise set asides."

Register now to do business with the City.

Buy Social Canada was happy to host MP Élisabeth Brière, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, last month for a walking tour of social enterprises in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

We look forward to continued collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to strengthen to social enterprise ecosystem across Canada.

Pictured: Parliamentary Secretary Brière speaks to Amanda McGee at Circle of Eagles Trading Post.

The work of Certified Social Enterprise Mission Possible has been highlighted by the Vancouver Sun.

Learn more about their MP Neighbours program, which hires people facing barriers to traditional employment, and offers "Downtown Eastside businesses and organizations an alternative to calling police or hiring private security guards to respond to rising homelessness and street disorder."

Read the article.

Photo by Jason Payne.

Certified Social Enterprise Furniture Bank has added a second location to amplify their impacts.

Here's what Furniture Bank Executive Director Dan Kershaw has to say:

"This almost 12,000 square-foot space is our answer to the ever-growing need for our services. It’s more than a warehouse; it’s a beacon of community, support, and sustainability. The space, generously provided by TAS, a Toronto-based impact real estate company, allows us to temporarily repurpose underutilized commercial real estate as a ‘meanwhile space’. This collaboration is a testament to the shared vision of both our organizations to make a positive impact in the community through practical solutions...

"This new space isn’t just about square footage; it’s about reach. We’re expecting to embrace an additional 1000 families each year. That’s 1000 more living rooms filled with laughter, 1000 more families gathering around a table, 1000 more children tucked into beds at night. With support to add more outposts in Toronto, we aim to grow this capacity well beyond these numbers."

Congratulations to Furniture Bank on your expansion - we look forward to hearing more exciting updates in the coming year.