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November 16, 2018

Contract Awarded for Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative

The City of Victoria, on behalf of the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative Steering Committee, is pleased to announce it has awarded a two-year contract to Scale Collaborative, Vancouver Island Construction Association, Buy Social Canada, and Presentations Plus to incubate a two-year Social Procurement Hub for the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative (CCSPI).

The aim of the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative is to develop a cohesive approach to social procurement in local governments across Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast while enabling individual communities to create their own strategic focus regarding community benefits. This project will seek to improve the health of our communities and the strength of our economies by changing the culture of public sector procurement.

“With the awarding of this contract, we’re happy to see significant progress on this important initiative,” said Mayor Lisa Helps, Victoria and Mayor Josie Osborne, Tofino, Steering Committee Co-Chairs.

“We look forward to working with our colleagues across Vancouver Island and coastal communities to strengthen our local economies and get good value for taxpayer dollars.”

Social Procurement is a growing practice that seeks to better leverage tax dollars to achieve positive social outcomes aligned with community values and strategic objectives. The practice has been adopted around the world and is demonstrating positive results for taxpayers and the wider community.

“Social procurement is a huge opportunity to utilize dollars that have to be spent anyway and leverage those dollars to bring community value.  Scale Collaborative and their partners are excited to be part of CCSPI and for the benefit this initiative will bring for communities and the economy of Vancouver Island” said Kristi Rivait, Co-Founder of Scale Collaborative.

“The construction industry is a significant contributor to the economy of Vancouver Island and we see a great opportunity with the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative to support the growth and resiliency of our communities in a fair, open, and transparent manner,” said Rory Kulmala, CEO of the Vancouver Island Construction Association. “We are looking forward to working with our partners and our industry on this important development in procurement practices.”

The public platform for the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative will launch in February 2019.

BACKGROUNDER

  • The Village of Cumberland was the first in the Association of Vancouver Island and Coast Communities (AVICC) region to adopt and implement a Social Procurement Framework.
  • The Towns of Qualicum Beach and Ladysmith are also implementing procurement with a implementing a procurement strategy that focuses on benefiting the local community.
  • The City of Victoria Council has adopted the Good Jobs + Good Business = Better Community Action Plan and is working toward implementation, including a direction for the procurement of construction of the Crystal Pool and Wellness Centre Replacement Project to model the federal government’s Community Benefits Report Framework