Indigenous Procurement

Indigenous Procurement

As part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, we are working to reduce barriers and improve the capability for Indigenous-owned businesses to sell their products and services to us.

Right now, we are creating a program called the Indigenous Procurement Program. This program:

  • will contribute to social and economic reconciliation for Indigenous peoples; 
  • will follow the public procurement law about how we buy goods and services;
  • is being developed by our Supply Management team, with guidance from the Indigenous Relations Office; and our Indigenous Knowledge Keeper; and
  • will be shaped by input from Indigenous communities.

Program approach

The goal of the program is to reduce barriers and improve the capability of Indigenous-owned businesses to participate in our procurement process.

Current steps

We’ve created our Indigenous Procurement Strategy to help us meet our program goal. The strategy combines Indigenous values into our internal procurement processes. It also supports having more Indigenous-owned businesses participate on our procurement opportunities. Learn more below.

See our Indigenous Procurement Strategy

To continue supporting economic reconciliation, we are raising awareness of this strategy both internally and externally and working with potential Indigenous-owned suppliers.

Program Approach -Step 1: Baseline, Analyze, Engage, Step 2: Strategize pilot, Step 3: Communicate, Inform, Collaboration, Step 4: Action

Completed

Baseline, analyze, engage

Foundation of the Indigenous Procurement Strategy

Completed

Strategize and Pilot

Developing the strategy

 

We are here

Communicate, inform, collaborate

Sharing the strategy

 

Upcoming

Action

Putting the strategy into practice

 

More details

Focus on ongoing learning, building connections and relationships with Indigenous business communities. Learning from Indigenous businesses about today’s realities and public procurement experiences.

You can find more details in the "What We Heard" reports below.

More details

We have built our Indigenous Procurement Strategy. It reflects where we are today, incorporates engagement feedback and guides our path forward.

More details

Sharing information, raising awareness and working together with City staff, potential suppliers and Indigenous-owned businesses and communities on the strategy.

More details

Keep working to evolve the strategy, reduce barriers and help Indigenous-owned businesses be part of our procurement processes.

Our strategy

The objective of our Indigenous Procurement Strategy is to increase the number of Indigenous-owned businesses who participate in our procurement process. The strategy is focused on reducing barriers that impact how Indigenous-owned businesses work with us.

We have developed the procurement participation maturity model as a framework to assess Indigenous participation in our procurement processes. The model is intended to support potential Indigenous-owned businesses in moving from Level five to Level one. At each level, we have ways to help manage the barriers that may come up. Each level looks at ways related to:

  • People
  • Process
  • Technology
  • Training and support

Below is a snapshot of the approaches to directly support Indigenous-owned businesses. See our strategy for the full details of each level. 

The procurement participation maturity model

Level five

Level five

Potential supplier doesn’t know about or doesn’t participate in our procurement opportunities.

Approaches:

  • People: Establish meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities, including business development groups and Elders.
  • Process: Update Indigenous local communities on our Indigenous Procurement Program
  • Technology: We have a dedicated team to help businesses navigate the bid submission process online.
  • Training and support: Provide training for Indigenous-owned businesses on our procurement process and systems.

Level four

Level four

Potential supplier knows about our procurement opportunities but doesn’t submit any bids.

Approaches:

  • People: We will provide a list of potential Indigenous-owned businesses to City staff.
  • Process: We build awareness and relationships at different events organized by the Indigenous business associations and non-profit organizations that support Indigenous-owned businesses across the country.
  • Technology: Work closely with Indigenous-owned businesses to help them access and use our contract management system.
  • Training and support: Provide training for Indigenous-owned businesses on navigating The City’s procurement systems and Alberta Purchasing Connection.

Level three

Level three

Potential supplier has bid but hasn’t been successful in the bidding process.

Approaches:

  • People: We will have debriefs with the potential supplier and business unit to improve the bidder’s understanding of the results.
  • Process: We will review the evaluation criteria for various projects and promote opportunities for Indigenous-owned businesses within The City.
  • Technology: Our Social Procurement Questionnaire is beneficial to Indigenous-owned businesses when responding to a bid opportunity. Potential suppliers can easily submit their questionnaire in our contract management system.
  • Training and support: We will provide tailored training workshops and expert advice to Indigenous-owned businesses on preparing a bid.

Level two

Level two

Indigenous-owned business is a supplier through under-threshold purchases or non-competitive procurements.

Approaches:

  • People: We will collaborate internally to find opportunities for Indigenous-owned businesses to submit quotes.
  • Process: We will review and advocate for activities that support our strategy and encourage the participation of Indigenous-owned businesses.
  • Technology: We’ll work on increasing the visibility and accessibility of Indigenous suppliers through existing procurement systems. For example, tagging Indigenous suppliers within our contract management system.
  • Training and support: The Indigenous Procurement Team will support direct business negotiations between the business units and Indigenous suppliers.

Level one

Level one

Indigenous-owned business is a supplier through the competitive procurement process. They compete equitably with non-Indigenous suppliers.

Approaches:

  • People: Good relationships are established and maintained between The City and Indigenous-owned businesses.
  • Process: Indigenous suppliers are actively engaged with The City and confident in using our procurement system.
  • Technology: Indigenous suppliers are skilled in navigating our procurement software.
  • Training and support: Indigenous suppliers are submitting bids that lead to winning a contract.

Opportunities

Contact us

If you have any questions or feedback about our Indigenous Procurement Program or want to learn more, feel free to email IndigenousProcurement@calgary.ca

Send us an email

  • The City of Calgary was awarded on The Indigenomics Institute's 2024 "10 to Watch list"

    Learn more

Useful links

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