Procurement practices and policies rarely dominate news headlines or dinner table conversations in Canada. At least, that was the case before two long pandemic years during which federal procurement was at the forefront of Canada’s response to COVID-19. From the great rush to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) to the international vaccine acquisition tussle that quickly followed, the strange new reality we live in has created an unexpected focus on the not-so-glamourous, yet crucially important topic of federal procurement. After all, as the central purchaser for the Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) manages the procurement of goods and services valued at approximately $15-billion annually, which is a far from insignificant sum.
Procurement revamp can create greater access for historically marginalized communities
