Winnipeg Coun. Janice Lukes says she is working with the Mayor’s Office to review the administration of the social procurement policy, to ensure its requirements are practical for the construction industry.
Lukes, who is Chair of the Public Works Committee, made the comments at the Executive Policy Committee meeting March 18, which received the Sustainable Procurement Action Plan annual report.
The councillor said she is working with the Mayor’s Office “to do a deeper dive into social procurement and how it applies to construction industry.”
MHCA President & CEO Chris Lorenc spoke to the annual report at EPC. The MHCA and Winnipeg Construction Association made a jointly submission. It can be read here.
“We are natural allies and willing partners in the Policy’s implementation and have, since 2022, been engaged as active members of the Social Procurement Advisory Table with Administration and social enterprise representatives,” the submission notes.
“Our participation has always aimed to ensure the initiatives of the Action Plan are practical and reflect the reality of the construction market,” it noted. The goal is to “offer individuals not just a job for a season’s payroll, but a rewarding, well-paid career.
“That can be achieved only if the policy is given life through workable ‘social procurement’ requirements embedded in construction tender and contract language.”
Pilot clauses from the sustainable procurement plan were included in 2024 construction contracts, requiring contractors to ask workers on the specific project to fill out a voluntary self-identification survey to record how many were in target equity groups. That information was required to track the number of hours worked by equity individuals.
Contractors reported that they had low response rates, and therefore the data collected was not reliable or accurate. Tracking the diversity status of employees was also difficult due to the frequent change in crew composition, the industry explained.
“What we see at the City here is a lot of people don’t want to self-declare,” Lukes said, of the City’s own reporting on diversity. “It impacts the data.”
The MHCA and the WCA have asked that Winnipeg collect data on diversity at the company level, rather than project specific. Further, the submission asked that the administration report on the Sustainable Procurement Action Plan to a specific standing policy committee, for political oversight on activities and outcomes.
Lorenc also supported an administrative report that recommended EPC approve a recommendation to conduct a value for money review of the Chief Peguis Trail extension. EPC approved the recommendation, which now goes to Council for a vote.
