Question Period Note: Increasing Indigenous involvement in procurement

Public Services and Procurement Canada in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada and Treasury Board Secretariat are actively working to increase the participation of Indigenous businesses in federal procurement.

• The Government of Canada is committed to economic Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. As part of this commitment, we will promote socio-economic outcomes by increasing economic opportunities for First Nations, Inuit and Métis businesses through the federal procurement process while also diversifying federal supply chains
  • Public Services and Procurement Canada is collaboratively working with Indigenous Services Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to implement the government-wide commitment for a minimum target of 5% of the total value of federal contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses by March 31, 2025
  • Progress made in fiscal year 2022-2023 against the target will be made public in the first comprehensive report, which will be available by spring 2024

If pressed on the 5% commitment:

• Since April 1, 2022, the groundwork has been laid to ensure that governance, guidance and reporting structures are in place to implement the government-wide minimum 5% target
• The Government of Canada has been engaging and consulting Indigenous partners to identify and remove barriers to participation in federal procurement
• Some departments and agencies, such as Shared Services Canada, are on track and expect to meet the 5% Indigenous procurement target for fiscal year 2022-23
• Preliminary data suggests that PSPC is not on track to meet its 5% target, however efforts are underway to close the implementation gap
• This includes efforts by PSPC to take concrete action and accelerate progress to increase the participation of Indigenous businesses in federal procurement through the following activities:
  • Indigenous-by-default approaches
  • The use of the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business
  • Limited bidding
  • Subcontracting opportunities
  • Indigenous Participation Plans
  • Updating methods of supply to include Indigenous businesses

If pressed on improving reporting:

• The first comprehensive performance report will be published next spring, an important milestone in increasing the transparency of Indigenous participation in federal procurement and will provide the basis to consistently monitor and track progress while ensuring accountability
• Federal organizations are being included in the minimum 5% target in three phases, which recognizes that some organizations may require additional time to adjust their procurement approaches to deliver towards the 5% target
• 32 Phase I organizations, including Public Services and Procurement Canada, will report progress against the target in fiscal year 2022-2023 with results publicly available by spring 2024
• The 20 phase II organizations' progress in fiscal year 2023-2024 will be publicly available by spring 2025, while the remaining 43 phase III organizations’ progress will be available by spring 2026
• We continue to work on improving our data collection and supporting other government departments in making procurement decisions to help achieve the minimum 5% target

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