Social Procurement
Every purchase we make has a social, economic, cultural, and environmental impact. Social procurement is about using our purchasing power to capture those impacts and achieve overarching goals that help shape inclusive, vibrant, and healthy communities.
Social procurement represents a shift from requiring the 'lowest price' to achieving the 'best value'.
By considering the broader impact of our purchases, we can make a significant difference in our communities.
Various methods can be used to achieve desired social outcomes through procurement:
- One way to do this is by adding a social value consideration to existing purchases.
- Another approach is adjusting the criteria considerations for purchasing products and services, or by weighting the value of criteria in an RFX (Request for Anything).
- Evaluating bids and vendors to achieve social, cultural or environmental goals is also an effective strategy.
Our national partner Buy Social Canada has an extensive library of free resources to assist buyers in the private, public and non-profit sectors include social impact suppliers in their supply chain.
Examples of Social Procurement in Action
City of Winnipeg
The city uses multiple questionnaires to fulfill their commitment to social procurement.
They also have a social procurement supplier registry.
City of Calgary
The city uses a social procurement questionnaire on 80% of their bids, to ensure that social value is included (and weighted) along with quality, experience and lowest price. The 12 question questionnaire requires evidence and points are awarded. It signals to the market the businesses the City wants to prioritize working with. While not all businesses are social enterprises, they might support social enterprises within their supply chain, have a social procurement policy or offer apprenticeships.