The City of Mississauga is committed to continuously improving the social and environmental impacts of its procurement of goods and services in a transparent and accountable way that balances fiscal responsibility, social equity, Indigenous reconciliation and environmental stewardship.
What is sustainable procurement?
Sustainable procurement considers social, environmental and Indigenous impacts, balanced with cost, quality and service to achieve the best value when acquiring goods and/or services. By considering social, environmental and Indigenous impacts, the City enhances its procurements by minimizing environmental impacts and maximizing social and Indigenous benefits.
How is sustainability integrated into procurements?
Sustainability is integrated in procurements through the City’s Sustainable Procurement Policy, which supplements the Procurement By-law. The policy has been in place since 2018 and aligns with the City’s environmental, social, and Indigenous priorities. It is supported by a sustainable procurement menu that guides its implementation. The policy applies to medium and high value acquisitions, providing sustainability criteria for both evaluated procurements and those with defined requirements.
Additionally, some best value procurements also include a Sustainability Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ). This SLQ requires bidders to answer questions related to their overall sustainability policies and practices, environmental stewardship, social responsibility and Indigenous reconciliation.
How can bidders respond to sustainability requirements?
Medium and high-value procurements require the submission of certain strategies to address sustainability requirements.
For guidance on how to respond, refer to these sample strategies which are strictly examples. Any bid submission must respond to the specific request in the procurement.
Supplier diversity
The City is a member of the Canadian Council of Indigenous Businesses (CCIB), Buy Social Canada and the Women’s Business Enterprises Canada Council (WBE Canada), providing the City with access to their respective directories of Indigenous businesses, social enterprises and women-owned businesses.
For certain competitive medium-value acquisitions, the directories are used to determine if there are any social enterprises, Indigenous or women-owned suppliers that could be issued an invitation to bid.
For more information
Please contact the City Representative named in your bidding document or email purchasing@mississauga.ca.