Join the Buy Social Canada Symposium online on October 18, 2022 to connect with leading social purchasers and suppliers, learn from industry experts, and celebrate trailblazers at the Social Procurement Champion Awards.

Get your tickets now for $35 + tax.

Tuesday October 18, 2022

9am - 2pm PT / 12pm - 5pm ET

Join us to hear from industry experts as we explore how to:

With Breannah Flynn (First Light), Michelle Lackie (Exchange Inner City), and Jonathan Hildebrand (City of Winnipeg).

With Nerissa Allen (Black Business Association of BC), Daniel Brunette (Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada), and Murwan Khogali (Infiniguard).

With Lisa Myre (University of Toronto), Sean Crockett (Clark Builders), and Rachel Orser (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo).

With Kristi Fairholm Mader (British Columbia Social Procurement Initiative), and Brent Brodie (York University).

With awards presented by Yana Lakusheh (SAP), Tim Laronde (Chandos Construction), and Brett Surgenor (Novex Delivery Solutions).

See the full program for more details.

Thank you to the Symposium sponsors Buy Social Leaders SAP and Chandos Construction, and special Social Procurement Champion Award sponsor Novex Delivery Solutions.

Buy Social Canada Purchasing Partner Novex Delivery Solutions wants to recognize impact with a special Social Procurement Champion Award at this year’s Buy Social Canada Symposium for a BC-based social enterprise that is making a difference in the environment! This award reflects their leadership in environmental values over the past 20 years of courier services across the lower mainland of BC.

Apply by October 10.

The last 2022 cohort of the Social Procurement Professional Certificate is coming up in November. Register now for this 4-part virtual course designed to provide both private and public sector purchasers with in-depth knowledge of the fundamental components of social procurement success.

Here are the details:

November 2022 Cohort

November 8, 15, 22 and 29, 2022 from 10am – 12pm PT / 1 – 3pm ET

Application deadline: October 25

Apply now to share learnings with likeminded individuals in this interactive cohort. Course cost is $550 plus tax.

Thank you to Buy Social Canada Leaders Chandos Construction for sponsoring this cohort of the Social Procurement Professional Certificate.

Join Buy Social Canada, AB Seed, Innovate Calgary and Momentum for an exciting event to learn, activate, and celebrate the successes of social procurement and benefit driven procurement within our community.

Takes place on:

This free event will be drop-in and include an experiential learning session on social procurement starting at 3:30pm. Join us at 5:00pm for refreshments as we connect together to grow the social value marketplace.

Register now.

Certified Social Enterprise Binners' Project has coordinated for their members to do free pickups on recyclables with PCL, the general contractor at the New Saint Paul's Hospital site in Vancouver, where a CBA is applied.

Here's what Mike, one of the binners doing regular pickups, has to say:

"Working with PCL has been unbelievable. They're great, and have wonderful staff who I really enjoy meeting when I go there. Everybody there is helpful, and it's a really busy place. I usually collect between $17 to $23 worth each time I go do a bottle pick up."

In addition to pickups, members of the Binners' Project can also be brought onto commercial and residential locations to provide back of house waste sorting and diversion. Email them at info@binnersproject.org to receive a quote for your site.

The first annual British Columbia Social Procurement Initiative (BCSPI) impact report is here! Learn about the combined impact BCSPI members are creating across the province.

Report Highlights:

Read the report.

Are you interested in learning about economic reconciliation and how your purchasing can respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 92nd Call to Action which calls on corporations to build relationships and ensure job and training opportunities for Indigenous people? Or exploring how procurement can support sustainability and get us to zero waste?

Purchasing Power is a speaker series featuring experts who are putting the principles of a social value marketplace into action, hosted by the British Columbia Social Procurement Initiative (BCSPI).

Join us for the first two events of the 2022/23 series:

November 15, 2022

1-2 pm PST / 4-5 pm EST

December 15, 2022

12-1 pm PST / 3-4 pm EST

We like to think of the Seal the Deal grant program as a ‘last mile to the contract’ fund, giving social enterprises, diverse-owned businesses and other social value suppliers the fuel they need to take off on a new business endeavour.

But don’t just take our word for it! Since June, we have awarded 13 organizations with grants or loans that will enable them to “seal the deal” on important contracts.

Read some early stories of impact.

We're collaborating with Social Innovation NL to offer the NL Social Procurement Summit at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. This jam-packed day of exciting content will be a source of inspiration, knowledge exchange, and policy recommendations to spur the development, acceleration and expansion of social procurement across our province.

This event is for anyone interested in developing and implementing social procurement in Newfoundland and Labrador. Get your tickets now.

The Buy Social Canada team attended the Social Enterprise World Forum last week in person and online. We got to hear inspiring stories from social enterprises, connect with social procurement intermediaries, and help grow the movement for social enterprise as a key tool to transform our communities and economies.

You can check out Day 1 and Day 2 event recaps from ProBono Australia to learn more and if you attended virtually session recordings are available for six months.

Pictured: Tori Williamson (Buy Social Canada), Michael Lim (Beyond Value, Australia), Lucretia de Jong (Social Outcome Solutions, Australia), Jorien van Lookeren Campagne (Social Enterprise Netherlands).

Social enterprises, get involved and fill out a short survey that will take about 10 minutes of your time. You will be among the first to receive the study’s findings on best practices for project management in social enterprises, and you can enter for a chance to win Buy Social Canada procurement training and a copy of David LePage's book Marketplace Revolution.

Respond to the survey.

Every year, thanks to sponsorship and community support, Certified Social Enterprise Binners' Project hosts the Coffee Cup Revolution to demonstrate what a coffee refund system can achieve as well as openly dialogue about how binning can support green communities, and vice versa.

This year's Coffee Cup Revolution will be held at Victory Square Park in Vancouver on:

Since the start of the Revolution, binners have collected nearly 400,000 coffee cups. Get involved to help amplify their impact this year.

Are you a business owner/operator from an Indigenous, Black or other diverse community? The City of Toronto wants to hear from you.

Findings from their confidential survey will inform a review of the City's Social Procurement Program and help address barriers to procurement opportunities. The City is looking for ways to leverage its spending on goods and services to drive inclusive economic growth.

Respond to the survey now.

The changing weather is our cue that it might be time to start thinking about gifts for family and friends this upcoming holiday season. Give a gift that gives back when you purchase from a Certified Social Enterprise.

Get ideas and find enterprises to purchase from by scrolling through our Gift Directory, searchable by social value and location.

The Common Good Solutions team will be visiting all four Atlantic Provinces to talk to social purpose organizations about Social Impact and Social Finance in the coming weeks. It’s time to chart our future together. Sessions will be focused on key issues, opportunities and pathways to success to shape the future of Social Impact and Social Finance in Atlantic Canada.

Join a consultation in your community. Details and links to RSVP here.

Options Mississauga Print and Office Services is a social enterprise which provides employment training to support the employment goals of individuals who have an intellectual disability. Their retail store provides a range of printing products, along with office services including mailboxes, photocopying, laminating, and shredding.

Authentic Indigenous Value Supply Chain Alliance (AIVSCA) is an innovative authentic social benefit framework that was created by forward thinking First Nation Bands and Medical Surgical & Safety Supplies Ltd (MSS); a Certified Indigenous Business operating as a Medical Supply-Wholesale-Distributor since 1992. This innovative framework is a Canadian solution for First Nation Social Enterprise to be fully engaged over a wide-range of supply chains in Canada.

Siloam Laundry Services provide commercial laundry services in Winnipeg, MB, while employing people using the services of their parent charity, Siloam Mission.

EthniCity Catering and Cafés employs newcomers to Calgary, preparing food that is served at two cafe locations in town, and through their catering business. Employees have access to kitchen training, English practice and community connections.