This series of blogs talks about social purchase as a way to bolster demand for the goods and services produced by social enterprises. The Caledon Institute recommended this approach to the City of Hamilton as one option in pursuing its goal of social inclusion. The City was interested in this objective in respect of its role as co-host of the PanAm Games in 2015. For background, please read the previous post: Enough Talk. Where's the Action?

Turns out Vancouver helped blaze the trail*. The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee actively employed a Community Benefits Agreements approach described in blog #2 in this series. The benefits of a contract must go to more than just the successful bidders. Vancouver’s experience in developing Community Benefits Agreements grew from its commitment to social, economic and environmental sustainability.

The Agreements were a starting point for communicating this objective. Bidders were required to include a social enterprise component as part of the assessment process. Comparable price and product value were the first elements considered in a bid package. The onus was on the bidder to work with a local social enterprise to add value to the submission.

The City of Vancouver, Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties Ltd. and Building Opportunities with Business Inner-City Society negotiated a Community Benefits Agreement (Factsheet [PDF]). Its purpose was to ensure that the community directly benefited from the development of the Southeast False Creek lands, which included the site of the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver.

The Community Benefits Agreement provided for 100 construction jobs for inner-city residents on the site, $750,000 in training to prepare them for these jobs and $15 million in goods and services purchased from inner-city suppliers. Most of the entry-level construction workers hired in these positions were trained in the CORE program housed at the Fabrication Shop.

The RONA Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop is an inner-city construction facility where more than 2,300 wood products required for Games venues were made. It provides carpentry training and work experience for at-risk populations. The Fab Shop also housed the CORE program, a six-week employment training program delivered by the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.

The City of Glasgow in Scotland is adopting a similar approach. Community benefits are playing a vital role in achieving the legacy principle for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The Community Benefit in Procurement introduces appropriate measures into procurement contracts to ensure that Glasgow secures, as far as possible within legal constraints, the maximum economic and social benefit for local residents and businesses.

Community Benefits account for 10 percent of the overall score in the evaluation of tenders. Tenders are required to deliver opportunities for targeted recruitment and training, and the development of small and medium enterprises/social enterprises, including the advertising of all appropriate subcontracts on the Commonwealth Games Business Portal.

Contractors are being advised to liaise with the Local Regeneration Agency Network to link with people seeking job opportunities. Contractors are being encouraged to ensure that employees working on Glasgow 2014-related contracts benefit from selected measures, including the Glasgow Living Wage. The policy has been piloted and successfully implemented within the Site Remediation Contract for the Athletes’ Village. The intent is to roll out the policy across all relevant Glasgow procurement.

Back at home, the City of Calgary provides a good model of across-the-board social procurement. Blog #5 explains why.

* For details, see Sherri Torjman and Anne Makhoul. (2011). Social Inclusion in the City of Hamilton. Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, June.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreajoseph/2050323044/in/photostream

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