Industry seeks more input on Winnipeg social procurement
An industry meeting with City of Winnipeg on social procurement has confirmed that there needs to be more involvement of construction procurement specialists in the development of the city’s action plan, MHCA President Chris Lorenc said.
“We are working to ensure that the social procurement policies, especially as they affect tender contracts, are workable and reflect market realities,” Lorenc said. “All companies in the construction industry, whether it is heavy civil or ICI, are looking to hire and we want to ensure that the resources for education and training of potential new employees are capable of supplying that market.”
The City of Winnipeg’s social procurement framework and action plan have been in development for the past two years, with consultation sessions held with social enterprise and industry representatives. Some new procurement rules and tender requirements will be implemented this year.
The intent is to use the city’s $400-million annual purchasing power (goods and services) to derive greater social benefit, ensuring targeted equity groups do more business with the city and that companies contracting to supply goods and services buy from or employ individuals within the equity groups (Indigenous, racialized, persons with disabilities, those facing poverty, newcomer, LGBTQ2S+ and women).
The goal would shift the focus of awarding tenders from “best price” to “best value” – to a bidder who meets the prescribed requirements for social benefits, such as hiring.
“I think what we heard from the industry representatives at the meeting January 9 with City officials reinforced the anxiety that the procurement requirements may over-reach what the market can provide right now,” Lorenc said.
Further, tender requirements must ensure that bidding is fair, open and transparent.
“We need a consultation table where industry procurement specialists can work with city administration as the tender documents and construction contracts are revised to include the requirements for social benefits. That way both the industry and the city can work to ensure the process is solid, workable and fair to all.”
The tools the city will use to ensure social benefit in supply of goods and services will include community benefits agreements, set-aside, hiring requirements, bidders’ hiring policies and diversity of workforce. Employers cannot demand potential hires or employees to declare their identities, but can make such declarations voluntary.
Click here to view the social procurement framework and here for the action plan click here.
Lorenc said the construction industry has been asking the city to ensure hiring requirements are realistic to the market conditions, and has also worked with social enterprise organizations in asking the province to align its education and training programs to meet the market needs.
The full rollout of the first phase of the new procurement rules will run from 2023-2025. A second, three-year phase of the procurement action plan will then be developed, informed by the experience of the first phase.
“We all are interested in recruiting. We all have our own training programs, but no one walks into a construction job without pre-employment and job training,” Lorenc said. “In our industry, we work hard to see that anyone working in construction understands the nature of the work and has had good, mentored experience onsite. Further, safety and health training is paramount.”
