Buy Social Canada May Newsletter
Here's the latest in social enterprise and social procurement news
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Next week! Join us for Marketplace Impact: Social Procurement in Action on May 16
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Join Buy Social Canada as we share the latest best practices for social procurement implementation at Marketplace Impact: Social Procurement in Action. This event will focus on people and organizations who are activating purchasing to achieve community goals in a variety of ways.
May 16, 2024
10am-12pm PT / 1pm-3pm ET
Online via Airmeet
This will be a free, engaging event to learn about social procurement lessons and stories. The event features insights from speakers, a new resource for community benefits in construction, Social Procurement Champion Award winners celebration, and opportunities to network with peers.
Event agenda
Opening remarks
Following a land acknowledgement and welcome, the opening session will feature a high-level discussion on the Federal Government’s actions taken to grow and implement social procurement, as well as what comes next.
Speakers:
- Michael Mills, Associate Deputy Minister, Public Services and Procurement Canada
- Erin Lynch, Assistant Deputy Minister, Infrastructure Canada
Resource Launch: Community Benefits in Construction Design Guide
We’re excited to launch a new free resource during this event. The Community Benefits in Construction Design Guide builds off our decade of experience advocating with and supporting the work of localized community benefits networks, designing policy for municipal governments, and working on the ground for CBA projects like the New St. Paul’s Hospital.
Innovative Ways to Build Supply and Demand Relationships
During this panel discussion, speakers will share how their organizations are each using innovative new approaches to build relationships between supply and demand-side organizations to implement social procurement and maximize social value outcomes.
Speakers:
- Alisha Masongsong, Social Planner II, Community Economic Development, City of Vancouver
- Corinne Evason, Sustainable Procurement Liaison, City of Winnipeg
- Victoria Armit, Operations Manager – Business Growth & Community Development, Centre for Inclusive Economic Opportunity
Social Procurement Champion Awards and Closing Remarks
More details below.
Thank you to Chandos Construction for sponsoring this event.
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Celebrate the 2024 Social Procurement Champion Award Winners
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This year the Buy Social Canada Social Procurement Champion Awards recognize organizations who are taking real strides forward to get things done in the social procurement ecosystem – either through direct action or through advocacy and sustained engagement with stakeholders. Each of this year’s award winners see the potential for social procurement and work towards a better future for their communities.
Join us virtually at Marketplace Impact: Social Procurement in Action on May 16, 2024 to celebrate changemakers from across Canada. This year, we’re happy to celebrate three Social Procurement Champion Award winners:
- City of Edmonton
- City of Winnipeg
- Ontario Nonprofit Network
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BCSPI Webinar Recap: Lessons Learned Supporting Local Governments to Adopt Social Procurement
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BCSPI recently hosted a webinar titled “Lessons Learned in Supporting Local Governments to Adopt Social Procurement.”
The speakers were key champions and leaders from the initiative: BSCPI Co-Chairs Mayor Vickey Brown (Village of Cumberland) and Councillor Jenna Stoner (District of Squamish); and project delivery partners Tori Williamson (Buy Social Canada), Kristi Fairholm Mader (Scale Collaborative), Rob Fisher (Scale Collaborative), Rory Kulmala (VICA), and Anthony Jeffery (formerly District of Squamish).
The conversation outlined how BCSPI started, the culture change we’ve seen over the past five years, and what we can learn from local governments who have been implementing social procurement.
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CLASP: Community Learning to Advance Social Procurement
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CLASP – Community Learning to Advance Social Procurement – brings together social procurement practitioners with access to exclusive content to power your purchasing. CLASP is a quarterly learning and networking event for Buy Social Canada Social Purchasing Partners and BCSPI members.
More details to be announced soon.
Social Purchasing Partners and BCSPI members will receive calendar invitations to join the event.
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City of Edmonton staff and Buy Social Canada share updates on Sustainable Procurement Program to City Council
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Last week, City of Edmonton staff and Buy Social Canada presented to Council on updates related to their sustainable procurement program and implementation.
Learn more here about the various tools and procedures Buy Social Canada is supporting the City to develop and implement to ensure its procurement reflects social, ethical, environmental and Indigenous considerations, including a Measurement and Reporting Framework, a Community Benefit Framework, and an Indigenous Set Aside Approach.
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Upcoming webinars for social procurement and social enterprise
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Join Buy Social Canada this summer for free webinars related to key tactics and conversations in the social procurement and social enterprise ecosystem.
Net-Zero Procurement: How to engage suppliers in the race to net-zero
June 6, 2024 | 10-11am PT / 1-2pm ET
Come to this webinar to learn:
- What Net-Zero Procurement (NZP) is
- How to connect it with your social or sustainable procurement goals
- How to access the Net-Zero Procurement Toolkit, which expedites the integration of NZP into any procurement process
Introduction to Community Bonds: Enabling Community Ownerships of Assets
July 10, 2024 | 10-11am PT / 1-2pm ET
Community finance is one piece of the social value marketplace. Come to this webinar to learn about what community bonds are and how they work.
The Power of Storytelling: Tips and tools for social enterprises
July 25, 2024 | 12-1pm PT / 3-4pm ET
This webinar is right for you if:
- You are a social value supplier. You could be a social enterprise, a diverse-owned business or you could incorporate social value creation in your business activities.
- You are engaged in communications activities at your business.
- You want to learn some simple tools to share your stories of impact.
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Social procurement to be included in FIFA 2026 Games in Toronto and Vancouver
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With the FIFA World Cup Games coming to Canada in 2026, community intermediaries and stakeholders have been working together in Toronto and Vancouver to ensure that social enterprises and other diverse suppliers have access to procurement opportunities.
In Toronto, the City confirmed it is working with stakeholders to develop a community benefits plan. Staff will report to Council on their progress throughout the summer.
In line with Toronto, the City of Vancouver unanimously passed a motion to review the inclusion of community benefits in the upcoming plans for FIFA 2026. The motion drew speakers and letters in support from the Downtown Eastside social enterprise Sector, including EMBERS, Mission Possible, and CIRES.
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Join in-person social procurement networking events in Edmonton and Brampton
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There are two upcoming in-person events designed to support relationship-building between supply and demand:
3rd Annual City of Brampton Reverse Vendor Tradeshow
May 23, 2024
9:30am-12:30pm
The Rose Brampton
1 Theatre Lane Brampton, Ontario
If you're a vendor with goods or services but unsure how to navigate the process, this event is for you. At the tradeshow, dedicated representatives from various City divisions will be on hand to personally address your questions and provide invaluable insights into doing business with us. Get ready to network and discover the diverse procurement opportunities available.
City of Edmonton - Purchase with Purpose: Opportunities for Indigenous, diverse and social businesses to sell to the public sector
June 6, 2024
1:30-4:00pm
Edmonton Expo Centre
Purchasers and procurement professionals from Edmonton and surrounding municipalities will host booths. Your organization will have from 1:30 - 4 p.m.
to connect with these purchasers, build up your network and learn more about how to make the most of different procurement opportunities. You’ll be able to learn about the types of goods, services and construction purchasers are actively sourcing, the bid opportunities for the coming year and a better understanding of their purchasing
requirements.
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Catalyst: Community Finance Summit takes place in Saskatchewan May 28-30
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- Strengthen connections between community finance organizations in Canada and beyond.
- Enhance learning and knowledge exchange to help community finance organizations add value to their work.
- Collaborate and co-develop a shared advocacy agenda and set of priorities to advance the community finance sector.
- Showcase the quality and urgency of community finance investment opportunities available in Canada.
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Join Buy Social Canada at ECPAR's Forum ISA 2024 in June
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Join Buy Social Canada to discover the innovations and benefits of socially responsible purchasing as part of ECPAR's Forum Innovation Solutions Procurement (ISA) 2024.
June 13, 2024
9am - 6pm ET
Maison du Loisir et du Sport
Salle Le St-Laurent
7665, boul. Lacordaire, St-Léonard, Québec
Essential for managers and professionals in procurement and sustainable development, the Forum ISA 2024 aims to disseminate concrete and inspiring social purchasing practices for all sectors.
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6 steps to social acquisition
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A social acquisition is the process by which a conventional enterprise is acquired and restructured into a social enterprise or other form of social purpose organization.
Read this blog post to learn more about social acquisition, and get a step-by-step breakdown of how it works from Carla Leon, CEO of Just Like Family Home Care, which was the first business in Canada to be acquired and made into a social enterprise by charities.
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IRP stories share impacts of federal funding
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Funded by the Government of Canada, the Investment Readiness Program (IRP) was a 2-year $50 million program (2021 to 2023) designed to support social purpose organizations as they contribute to solving pressing social, cultural, and environmental challenges by helping them build their capacity to participate in the country’s growing social finance market and prepare themselves to take on investments.
At the end of this phase of IRP, IRP Partners are sharing stories of investment and success. Read them here to learn more about the impact of IRP funding.
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Donate to help Certified Social Enterprise Aangen send food to Gaza
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Donate to help Aangen make a difference in the lives of over 2 million individuals in Gaza who are on the brink of famine. By supporting their campaign, you can help provide essential nutrition to those who lack access to food and the infrastructure needed for cooking.
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Radicare Ventures
Based in Calgary, Radicare Ventures employs people facing barriers to traditional employment and provides property maintenance services.
Revenue generated through RadiCare Ventures supports the operation of RadiCalgary Society, a non-profit organization serving people experiencing systemic vulnerabilities like homelessness.
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910-1050 West Pender St
Vancouver, BC V6E 3S7
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