Government Operations committee  With more information, we'd be better informed and better able to do it.

Government Operations committee  We have to work with what we have.

Government Operations committee  Yes. They've only had a few months' practice, so they're just starting the journey, and it is a journey. I would say that corporations are probably your best bet, based on business, and they will share that knowledge with you. In terms of the city, they worked on the Pan Am Games, which was a precursor to the program that has been developed there.

Government Operations committee  I think we start out where we are. Right now there's a lot of government contracting that takes place. We need to make those who are already contracting with government aware of this goal of having a diversification of their supply chain. We need to enable them to recognize how to start it and how to implement it, and then reward them for doing it by giving them extra points on their procurement opportunity.

Government Operations committee  Some of them are to create innovative ways of tackling this. I would point out something like the City of Toronto and social procurement. They've just pushed ahead and done it. They've tried it, and they're working through the model. One of the things that you asked about was training and making sure that people are confident.

Government Operations committee  I think it's good to have a standard that you're working with that is consistent. The standard is already there, so why not use it? It has already been established.

Government Operations committee  No, but I think we're working on that.

Government Operations committee  OSME has been doing an outreach to capture that knowledge with the data that's available and we're certainly supporting outreach questionnaires related to the community, but we don't have the substantive information that's available in other jurisdictions. It's unfortunate, because it's really difficult to do policy without that data.

Government Operations committee  I'm going to invite Stephanie to respond to that.

Government Operations committee  We've worked with financial institutions. BMO, for example, has a very established supplier diversity program with a focus on women. It is an intentional program internally and at the leadership level to be able to implement that and track it and look at it over time. The other thing that I would say is that in the manufacturing industry, I would commend the automotive supply chain for the kinds of things that it's doing.

Government Operations committee  We have been fortunate to be supported by a number of corporations that have had a supplier diversity journey.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely. I'd be delighted.

Government Operations committee  We've been following the protocol where it began, in the United States. We were mentored by an organization called WBENC, Women's Business Enterprise National Council, and were provided the documents to begin. We've customized that to the Canadian marketplace. In our protocol, we look for documentation related to the business itself.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely. More and more, when it becomes important to use the certificate, we're also finding that others are attempting to use it exactly as you've said. In the past, we've had assessors—now we call them site visitors—verify information and documentation and confirm that the women actually have a role, and their eligibility.

Government Operations committee  We've looked at this, and we have decided to follow an international protocol. The reason we do this is really that our certification is also a door opener to other markets. By looking at the 51% owned, managed, and controlled, for many of our small and women-owned businesses that receive that certification, that certification is accepted in the U.S. market, so it's a door opener.