Evidence of meeting #41 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was procurement.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Good afternoon, everyone. We're back in session.
Welcome to meeting number 41 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
We're starting off with our buy Canada study. We have one hour with PSPC. After that, we are going to suspend for a few moments and then go over to the Treasury Board.
Mr. Laporte, welcome back. I understand that you have an opening statement for us.
Go ahead. The floor is yours for five minutes.
Dominic Laporte Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered today on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
With me today are Levent Ozmutlu, director general for strategic policy, and Clinton Lawrence‑Whyte, director general for buy Canadian, small and medium enterprises and digital solutions.
I would like to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to open the discussion on the “buy Canadian” policy, the policy's importance and the components of the framework.
In the past year, Canada's economic strength and resilience have been tested by an increasingly uncertain global environment, including evolving trade pressures and tariffs, as well as ongoing disruptions to international businesses and industry supply chains. These challenges have highlighted the importance of maintaining a strong, resilient and diversified domestic economy.
As for strengthening domestic supply chains and reducing our reliance on foreign inputs, opportunities remain to more intentionally prioritize Canadian suppliers, content and materials such as steel, aluminum and various wood products.
Last year, the Prime Minister announced the “buy Canadian” policy as one of many initiatives announced by the Government of Canada to strengthen the Canadian economy by bringing new opportunities, access and direct benefits to Canadian industry.
Public Services and Procurement Canada, or PSPC, has a key role in the rollout of the “buy Canadian” policy, which came into force on December 16, 2025. As the Government of Canada's central purchasing agent, PSPC is uniquely positioned to use procurement as a strategic lever. With PSPC averaging $37.8 billion in annual contracting, shifts in how we evaluate bids and define requirements can have a significant impact on domestic investment, supply chain resilience and industrial capacity.
The buy Canadian policy was designed to address the challenges Canada faces currently in a targeted way by strengthening initiatives for Canadian suppliers and increasing the use of Canadian-produced materials in key procurements.
The buy Canadian policy contains two overarching components. The first is the policy on prioritizing Canadian materials in federal procurements. This component is designed to protect and support domestic supply chains for key strategic commodities.
Our goal is to increase the integration of materials produced in Canada, reduce dependency on foreign inputs and require companies to source materials produced in Canada, including steel, aluminum and wood products.
The second component of the buy Canadian policy is the policy on prioritizing Canadian suppliers and Canadian content in strategic federal procurements. This component advances the Government of Canada's mission to build a strong and diversified Canadian economy. It encourages the participation of Canadian suppliers and incentivizes the use of Canadian content and strategic procurement.
This component includes two complementary elements: It fosters the participation of Canadian suppliers by giving them a price-based evaluation credit during the offer evaluation process and requires all bids to be evaluated based on the level of Canadian content or value-added they propose.
Both policies apply to competitive procurements of $25 million or more. The threshold of application for the policy on prioritizing Canadian suppliers and Canadian content in strategic federal procurements will be dropping to $5 million in June.
In closing, PSPC will continue to support the “buy Canadian” policy by ensuring consistent implementation through the establishment of clear guidance related to governance, compliance, monitoring, reporting and quality assurance.
Our goal is to support Canadian-owned businesses, manufacturers and suppliers, as well as to build lasting relationships that will drive demand for Canadian goods, services and materials. As it stands today, the buy Canadian policy has already applied to a portfolio of solicitations valued at over $3 billion, resulting in the award of contracts worth over $525 million to date.
Lastly, the “buy Canadian” policy is changing the way government and industry work together. As the Government of Canada, federal organizations and the Crown adopt these new measures, PSPC is in full support of this transformation.
We are pleased to answer any questions you have about the policy and its rollout.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Thank you very much, Mr. Laporte.
We'll start with Mrs. Block for six minutes.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you for being here, Mr. Laporte and officials. I'm very much looking forward to the launch of this important study.
I'm looking for some really concise answers from you in the questions I'm going to be asking.
How much does the Government of Canada spend on procurement annually?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
For PSPC, it's $37.5 billion, on average, for the last three years.
Conservative
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
For the Government of Canada, it depends, but I can say that government procurement at large, when we include provinces and territories, accounts for 14% of the GDP every year. I don't have visibility for the procurement data, so I—
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
You don't have the exact number for the Government of Canada. Okay.
According to CanadaBuys, in 2023-24, more than 93% of all contract value was awarded to suppliers with Canadian addresses. Can you tell us, under the buy Canadian policy, how many suppliers with Canadian addresses that received contracts will no longer be eligible to bid on procurements?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
I would say that most suppliers that have a Canadian address will be able to bid on Canadian opportunities. The goal of the buy Canadian policy is not to exclude foreign suppliers. The goal is to make sure that we prioritize our Canadian suppliers.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Of the contracts awarded to suppliers with Canadian addresses, how much of the value of the contracts was subcontracted outside of Canada?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
I would need to validate that information in terms of how many were subcontracted. Oftentimes, what happens in PSPC is that we don't have visibility of the portion of the supply chain that is subcontracted.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
This is potentially a big issue.
During the Prime Minister's announcements on buy Canadian last fall, he affirmed it would extend to federal funding streams and infrastructure on $70 billion of additional spending. How much of that $70-billion figure is going to be Canadian-made products and services?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
The other stream is G and C federal funding, so that question would be best addressed to my colleagues from TBS. We're not responsible for that portion of the buy Canadian program.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
You don't have any idea how much will be spent on Canadian-made products and services, yet we have this very critical program—the buy Canadian program—that Public Services and Procurement Canada is overseeing. You don't have that number.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
As for the total G and C, we don't have visibility for that.
The goal of the buy Canadian policy is to drive the Canadian content of our products. We are establishing these benchmarks as we speak. We are gathering that information, in terms of how much is spent on Canadian steel, and how much is spent on Canadian content. We are gathering that information, and—you're right—that will be key as we move forward.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
I will give you an example. The government boasted about an infrastructure project in the spring economic update—maybe you're familiar with this one—the Toronto city line 2 expansion project, which began in 2021. They identified that it was 55% Canadian content. Is the government expecting this policy to be only 50% effective on infrastructure?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
I'm not able to comment on that specific project. That transportation project is not under the purview of the PSPC.
What we want to do with buy Canadian is to drive Canadian content and to require suppliers to provide Canadian content in order to get more points.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
How much more will be considered Canadian content that wouldn't have been without the policy?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
This is really interesting. I think we're going to be seeing tangible progress, such as with Canadian steel and Canadian aluminum making their way into federal procurement. Also, outside of those products, there's a lot of.... For example, when we're dealing with IT procurement, the goal is to strengthen that supply chain. We're already starting to do that with the buy Canadian policy.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Does a Canadian supplier have to sell a Canadian good?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
Basically, we require an allocation of a score of 25, and so, depending on the procurement—
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
I'm not talking about how it may or may not work in a value formula. Is it required?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
It depends on the circumstances of the procurement. If, for example, we're talking about a building made out of steel, we're going to be requiring Canadian steel.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Does the Canadian supplier have to include Canadian services in procurement bids? Specifically, is it a requirement?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Procurement Branch, Department of Public Works and Government Services
It depends on the procurement. What we can do for certain procurements—and we're doing it right now with some of the procurements that have been issued—is to basically put a minimum threshold for Canadian services. We're doing that for some procurement. We're also allocating more points towards the degree of Canadian services provided.