Federal lending agency is the latest to introduce an Indigenous Procurement Program
Farm Credit Canada has rolled out its new Indigenous Procurement Policy to ensure that Indigenous vendors across Canada have a fair opportunity to bid on supply contracts for the Crown corporation.
As an agency of the federal government, the FCC is beholden to a number of trade agreements when it comes to sourcing products, he said. That’s in response to recommendation #92 stemming from the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which calls for greater equality for Indigenous peoples in accessing opportunities in business, training and education.
“We put a lot of time and effort in ensuring that we were going down a path that others before us have gone,” said Dundas, pointing to organizations like Canada Post and SaskPower, which have developed strong Indigenous procurement programs in the past.Under the new policy, any contract worth an estimated $200,000 or more requires a competitive bidding process, Dundas said, for which the FCC would issue a request for proposals.
He noted that the FCC debated whether vendors would be required to prove their Indigenous identities. In the end, the agency decided in favour of it, following consultation with Indigenous businesses and people. Though the current Indigenous procurement target set out by the federal government is five per cent of all spending, Dundas doesn’t expect that number to remain stagnant. Once they reach that milestone, they’ll reevaluate the program and push it to eight per cent, before reevaluating it again.
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