Social procurement is a tool that strengthens the local economy and benefits the community at large. When governments, institutions, corporations and other purchasers do business with a social enterprise, they leverage additional social value from their existing procurement activities and build community wealth.
About CSED’s Social Procurement Initiative
In 2022, CSED launched its Social Procurement service through the funding support of United Way Eastern Ontario and the City of Ottawa. Our objective is to accelerate social procurement in the Ottawa, Lanark, Renfrew and Prescott-Russell Counties region by working directly with the procurement leadership in local municipalities, universities and colleges, school boards, healthcare providers, housing organizations and the construction sector. Funding in 2023 from the CSRF has allowed us to expand our scope and efforts.
Core to the success of the work is the Social Procurement Working Group. The group consists of procurement leads from eleven anchor organizations which represent over $600M in goods and services spending and 40,000+ employees. See member information below.
CSED, in conjunction with the working group, is advancing four areas:
Social Enterprise Directory
CSED currently maintains a directory of almost 140 Ottawa and Eastern Ontario social enterprises. To meet the needs of our users, the Directory is being expanded to include Indigenous and Black-owned for-profit organizations. We are also updating the information we collect for all organizations in the Directory.
Matching Service
CSED is developing and testing a matching service that looks to introduce social enterprises with purchasing organizations for facilitated opportunities. They offer a unique opportunity to introduce a social enterprise into an organization. CSED’s involvement can range from a simple introduction to a more in-depth assessment of the need and supplier capabilities.
Procurement Collaboration & Support
Meeting monthly, the social procurement working group provides an opportunity for procurement primes to network, share and mentor their peers. The group has identified key challenges and potential solutions to enable and accelerate social procurement in the Ottawa/Eastern Ontario marketplace. Collectively, they bring over 100 years of procurement experience to the table and leverage this extensive procurement knowledge in seeking common approaches and solutions.
Knowledge Database
Leveraging individual and corporate knowledge of the working group, CSED is creating a shared Knowledge Database for use within the group to address areas such as Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) and procurement decisions, how Standing Offers impact social procurement, the use of Qualitative and Quantitative surveys in RFI/RFT and RFPS; Supplier Diversity and how organizations support social procurement within the confines of international trade agreements and the Ontario government’s Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive (BPSP).
What to Learn More?
Would you like to become part of this exciting initiative? We are eager to discuss with you how you can introduce or increase your social value purchasing and more importantly, social impact in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario community.
Working Group Members
Funding support provided by:
