We have developed a social procurement policy, which we are also encouraging other anchor institutions in Toronto to adopt, such as universities, colleges, the TTC, and Metrolinx. Together we have a collective buy of about $30 billion a year.
If we reorganize the way we select bidders when we purchase goods and services to ensure that we are not only getting maximum economic value from our public dollars but also generating environmental value, or in this case social value, then we can make the dollars that we have to spend go much further, and we can increase employment opportunities for equity-seeking groups.
We have developed a policy that requires one out of every three bids to represent a diverse supplier. If the federal government thought it was very important to increase the employment of people affected by mental illness, you could build that into your procurement policies for the federal government.