Archived - Indigenous procurement modernization: engagement 2019
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Current status: closed
This engagement began on April 15, 2019 and ended May 15, 2019.
On this page
Why
The Government of Canada launched a process to modernize procurement practices so they:
- are simple
- are less administratively burdensome
- deploy modern comptrollership
- encourage competition
- support Government of Canada socio-economic and environmental policy goals
- support innovation
- are streamlined and efficient
As part of this agenda, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) are reviewing the federal approach to Indigenous procurement, including the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB) which has been active for over 20 years.
Who
The Government of Canada is engaging with:
- Indigenous businesses
- Indigenous economic development organizations and their members
- national Indigenous organizations
- regional Indigenous organizations
- Indigenous women's groups
- comprehensive land claims agreement holders
- federal, provincial and municipal government departments
- private sector
- other interested parties
What
The Government of Canada is reviewing the federal approach to Indigenous procurement including the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business in order to:
- increase the number of federal procurement opportunities for Indigenous business
- increase the number of Indigenous small to medium sized enterprises bidding on and winning federal contracts
- grow Indigenous business
- create employment opportunities for Indigenous peoples
- increase self-reliance
- increase employment and training opportunities for Indigenous peoples
As of January 2019, the Government of Canada has:
- reviewed past analysis and evaluations to identify lessons learned
- looked at successful procurement practices both in Canada and internationally to identify what makes them work
- engaged with Indigenous economic development organizations, Indigenous businesses and federal departments
- developed recommendations for an improved approach to federal Indigenous participation in procurement as outlined in a discussion paper
The Government of Canada is now launching a wider public engagement to validate the findings from the discussion paper. All input provided from this engagement will be considered in the development of a new approach to Indigenous participation in federal procurement.
How to participate
There are 3 ways to provide input on the discussion paper:
- Send an e-mail to aadnc.maa-ipm.aandc@canada.ca
- Send a fax to 819-956-9837
- Send comments or opinion papers by email or by regular mail to the address in the Contact us section below
What we heard
Regional roundtables
The Government of Canada, in partnership with the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, held 2 regional roundtable engagements on Indigenous procurement modernization. The Western Region Roundtable was held in Edmonton on February 27, 2018 and the Eastern Region Roundtable was held in Montreal on June 12, 2018.
Participants came from all provinces and territories except Nunavut, where procurement options are being explored as part of ongoing negotiations.
Participants included:
- Aboriginal Financial Institutions
- business owners
- representatives from economic development corporations
- Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
- Joint Economic Development Initiative (New Brunswick)
- Atlantic Policy Congress
- Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce
- National Indigenous Consortium
Discussions focused on a range of topics identified by the review of past analysis and evaluations. Several themes emerged from the regional roundtables, including:
- simplifying the procurement process to make it easier for Indigenous business to bid on federal procurement opportunities
- helping entrepreneurs and Indigenous business build capacity
- removing the 33% Indigenous labour requirements to qualify as an Indigenous business
- implementing a third party to actively manage and update the Indigenous Business Directory and verify that enterprises meet requirements to qualify as an Indigenous business
- establishing hard targets for departments to meet Indigenous procurement quotas
- supporting detailed, elaborate, publically available and transparent reporting processes that include geographic breakdowns
- establishing a points system in bid evaluation processes
- distributing opportunities to large and small businesses across different regions and sectors
- establishing a local presence in regions to identify and communicate potential opportunities
- making procurement organizations available to local businesses and communities
For a full report on the regional roundtables, consult the "Online engagement on Indigenous procurement modernization 2019, what we heard" report.
National Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business Coordinators Network roundtable
The Government of Canada also held a roundtable with procurement professionals from the National PSAB Coordinators Network in Ottawa on June 26, 2018.
Themes emerging from the National PSAB Coordinators Network roundtable include:
- establishing political will and buy-in at senior levels in the Government of Canada
- setting targets based on size of organization and scale
- monitoring and reporting on the impacts of projects on businesses and communities in order to ensure achievement of expected results
- changing the legislation in order to make it mandatory to use Indigenous businesses in procurement processes
- supporting verification of business in advance of a contract award
One-on-one engagements
In addition to these roundtable engagements, CIRNAC and ISC held one-on-one meetings with 19 people from more than 8 organizations. Find out more about what participants said and considerations for possible approaches moving forward in the discussion paper.
Related links
Contact us
Economic and Business Opportunities Branch
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
10 rue Wellington, 11 Floor
Gatineau QC K1A 0H4
Tel: 1-800-400-7677
Fax: 819-956-9837