The Buy Social Canada Pledge invites private companies and public entities to make the commitment to work toward a goal of percentage spend with social enterprises. The collective effort of leveraging social value from existing purchasing will change lives and create opportunities to build back better.

“If just a small fraction, like 5%, of what the public and private sectors spend on procurement went to social enterprise businesses, those organizations will have the power to build healthy and inclusive local communities,” says Elizabeth Chick, Executive Director of Buy Social Canada.

By joining the Buy Social Canada Pledge, public and private sector partners will have the tools to take on social procurement. Buy Social Canada will carry out a supply chain audit to assist each member in crafting their own pledge, unique to their opportunities and goals as social purchasers.

SAP Executive Board member for Customer Success and recently appointed Global Buy Social Ambassador, Adaire Fox-Martin announced SAP’s 5 & 5 by ’25 commitment to five percent of addressable spend with social enterprises and five percent with diverse businesses by 2025. “Every company in every industry needs to procure,” Fox-Martin said. “We all need soap in our washrooms, landscaping for our offices, food and drink in our cafeterias, marketing services, office supplies, and even pest control. These and many more are all products and services provided by social enterprises and diverse businesses. This is money we are spending anyway. Why not spend it with suppliers who are delivering social impact as well?”

Chandos Construction announced their social procurement plan to shift at least 5 per cent of it’s controllable spend to social impact organizations including certified social enterprises, B Corp Certified companies, and diverse owned businesses by 2025. “As the first and largest B Corp Certified commercial builder on the continent, and the only one in Canada, we look at all the ways we can use our business to make a positive impact on the world,” said Tim Coldwell, President of Chandos Construction. “We’ve had success partnering with social enterprises that train and prepare people who face barriers to employment to work in construction. Why wouldn’t we hire through those social enterprises and change a life at the same time?”

Find out more about the Buy Social Canada Pledge here and consider how the power of your purchasing can impact your business and your community.