Together we are redefining how goods and services are bought and sold. Education is a critical tool as we work to embed social value and transform our purchasing. Buy Social Canada has a line up of social procurement training programs for both the demand and the supply sides of the marketplace scheduled for 2022. 

Through engaging virtual sessions and active participation, these courses will support you to develop the skills and knowledge you need to incorporate social value and buy and sell with impact.

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Buy with impact

For purchasers, we offer the Social Procurement Professional Certificate. Join a supportive cohort for this four-week course while being guided through a comprehensive overview of what social procurement is, how to support change management in your organization, and how to create and implement a social procurement policy and framework, or strengthen the practices you already have in place. After successful completion of all course components, participants receive a professional development certificate, which can qualify for continuing professional development (CPD) hours, and can be shared on your resumé or LinkedIn.

Here’s what past participants have to say about the course:

“Valuable, insightful, necessary for employees of a business with a Social Procurement policy or anyone looking to develop one.”

“The training I received was integral in my understanding of social value and now I feel like I have additional knowledge and tools to help [my company] make our social value journey a success.”

“The Buy Social Canada team makes the content very accessible by making sure that there’s lots of different learning tools to ensure everyone who has diverse learning styles is appreciating the content being communicated”

“Being welcomed by a supportive group of people was one of the most enjoyable parts – being made to feel part of a likeminded and passionate team outside of my organization was very valuable.”

Learn more about the Social Procurement Professional Certificate in the course outline. Course cost is $495 CAD plus tax. Upcoming cohorts are scheduled for May, July, September/October, and November 2022. Apply today.

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Sell with impact

Social procurement cannot be successful without supply from social value suppliers. To support supplier growth and capacity-building, we developed the SUPER Project, a suite of tools, resources and training to elevate the capacity of social enterprises and social value suppliers to access procurement opportunities.

If you are a social value supplier seeking practical tools to become bid ready, the Procurement for Social Value Suppliers course has been described as “a must for all social enterprises interested in social procurement.” This training is right for you if you sell goods or services which can be bought by businesses, governments or institutions, and you’re ready to learn about procurement and grow into opportunities for big contracts, and therefore big impact.

At the end of this four-week, in-depth training, you will finish the program with a better understanding of how to find opportunities, respond to bids, and tell your social value story. Here’s what past participants have to say:

“If you’re starting out new or newish, this course packs a punch in a short time, but it will give you all the tools to evaluate your [social enterprise] plan, find contracts to bid on, who to contact if you are cold calling, and a skeleton for how to develop a great bid!”

“This training offers the opportunity to relate your business decisions with your social priorities in a proactive way, while maintaining a competitive edge”

“The tools and tips are transferable and easy to share with the rest of your team and the connections and collaborations with other attendees in the workshop offers a lot of insights and community to the work of defining and selling social value. Another bonus is that the SUPER training, when done with the right mindset, can give an accurate reflection of where your organization is at, today, and can assist in defining goals for future development and opportunities” (participant from the May 2021 cohort).

Learn more about Procurement for Social Value Suppliers in the course outline. Course cost is $60 CAD plus tax as this program is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program. Upcoming cohorts are scheduled for June and October 2022. Apply today.

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Tell your impact story

Storytelling for Social Value Suppliers gives social value suppliers, non-profits and all social purpose organizations the skills to become an impactful storytellers. This three-part training explores the art and importance of storytelling through the unique lens of social value suppliers, and includes hands-on learning of a practical tool develop your own digital story for social media. By the end of the course, each participant will have created a short video telling a story from their enterprise that showcases their mission and impact.

100% of participants report they would recommend this course to others. Previous participants say they learned how “to better plan the structure of a story to make it effective for the targeted audience and what to include.” Here’s what other participants have said:

“The course really simplified the process from something that seemed daunting to something that is totally doable”

“The storytelling session focuses on knowledge and resources to create stories about your enterprise. You will come out of the training session with a much clearer idea of how to approach outreach for your business and tools to make it happen!”

Learn more about Storytelling for Social Value Suppliers in the course outline. Course cost is $60 CAD plus tax as this program is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program. Upcoming cohorts are scheduled for May and September 2022. Apply today.

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In addition to being carefully curated and hosted by social procurement leaders, our training courses are also invaluable opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals. It brings us joy to bridge gaps between people working towards common goals through our courses, and we hope you’ll join this community in future cohorts.

Explore all Buy Social Canada training services, or contact us to request a private cohort for your organization.