Every purchase has an economic, social, cultural, and environmental impact

The economic purchasing power of the construction sector is significant. As stated by the Canadian Construction Association, “In many ways construction is the backbone of the Canadian economy. It employs 1.4 million Canadians and accounts for 7.5 per cent of Canada’s GDP.” Additionally, according to the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, we know the Canadian government will spend over $200 billion in the next ten years on infrastructure projects.

At the local and regional levels, construction-based businesses have been critical factors for employment and are economic drivers for our communities. The construction sector and public spending go hand in hand, and social procurement is an emerging best practice that can intentionally leverage this existing spending to maximize community capital.

Every community needs roads, schools, libraries, firehalls, and other public infrastructure. Imagine leveraging this enormous purchasing, hiring, and contracting power to not only build physical structures, but also to build community capital. Community capital means going beyond the old model of who offers the lowest price and instead considering which sup- pliers provide the greatest community value in terms of jobs, training, supply chain, and environmental impact.

This has already begun to happen. As demand increases for social value suppliers and a diversified workforce, the construction industry is shifting from a business sector characterized as being driven by goals of ‘on budget and on time,’ to an industry that is responsive to community needs. By integrating principles of social procurement, construction companies and purchasers can now achieve multiple social and environmental goals across the industry.

From ending poverty to reducing the impacts of climate change, the construction industry holds a unique set of keys to influence these outcomes.

The Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA), Buy Social Canada, and Scale Collaborative are working together as delivery partners for the British Columbia Social Procurement Initiative (BCSPI).

BCSPI is a province-wide shared learning program that supports local governments and other public purchasers with training, coaching, tools, and resources to implement social procurement practices that can leverage their existing spending to create additional social value outcomes for their communities.

What began as a Vancouver Islandbased pilot of a shared learning hub in 2019, has since expanded to a provincewide program thanks to support from the Province of B.C. Currently, almost 40 municipalities, regional districts, and other purchasers participate in the program. VICA provides a vital role within the project through ongoing collaborative engagement between BCSPI members and the construction sector.

BCSPI has identified four key social value outcomes that can be achieved when social procurement is integrated into construction projects:

1) Employment opportunities;

2) Training and apprenticeship opportunities;

3) Social value in the supply chain; and

4) Environmental goals.

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Office: (250) 339-6100

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Additional community development goals can also be realized on a project-byproject basis.

One example of how a major construction project can create employment, skills, and training opportunities is demonstrated in a BCSPI case study about the construction of Comox Valley Regional District’s water treatment plant.

The $126-million project included Infrastructure Canada’s Community Employment Benefits program and provided an excellent opportunity to incorporate social procurement concepts that included maximized employment, skills training, and apprenticeship opportunities for disadvantaged, equity-seeking, and marginalized people. At the conclusion of the project, employment benefit hours far exceeded the original projections. Hours for Indigenous people and apprenticeships more than doubled, and hours for under-represented populations more than quadrupled. The project was completed on time and on budget, and there were no additional cost implications associated with the inclusion of the social value criteria.

With the integration of social procurement in construction, we are harnessing the massive potential of public spending to create social value and transition from an industry whose purpose was seen merely as builders of structures ‘on time and on budget’ to an industry that is using their skills and capacity to contribute to building healthy communities.

Learn more at www.bcspi.ca. n