Introducing TMU’s social purchasing policy

To: All employees

In the summer of June 2022, a Social Purchasing Working Group with membership from across the university was established to assess and create processes for the university that aim to leverage its institutional purchasing power for social, environmental and economic good. As part of this, we are pleased to introduce the new Social Purchasing Policy. 

Led by Financial Services, this policy was created in partnership with the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion and prior to its launch, the policy was shared with the broader TMU community for feedback in 2023. The goal of the policy is to provide a framework to create new opportunities to engage with diverse suppliers and small sized businesses, including businesses that are majority owned, managed and controlled by Indigenous and equity-deserving communities.

As an institution committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, it’s important that these values extend into our purchasing practices. This new policy is designed to answer the question “How do we make sure the vendors we engage with reflect the values of Toronto Metropolitan University?”

What’s included in the new policy?

The new policy:

• Defines institutional criteria for what constitutes a diverse supplier as “a Supplier that is either certified by a Supplier Certification Organization, or self identified to be more than 51% (majority) owned, managed and controlled by persons belonging to an Equity-deserving Community or Indigenous Peoples.”

• Includes an institutional commitment to review commercial terms for diverse suppliers.

• Encourages departments to source quotes from at least one diverse supplier for contracts and purchases under $100,000 CAD.

• Encourages Purchasing Services to develop procurement strategies that provide opportunities for diverse suppliers.

Consider how the policy can be applied in your daily work

We encourage all university members to familiarize themselves with the policy, and decision makers with purchasing powers to consider how they can incorporate its guidelines into their purchasing decisions.

More guidance to come

Creating change in how we procure goods will take intentional effort and time. As the next stage in this process, the Social Purchasing Working Group will release a social purchasing playbook, and the Sustainability Office in Facilities Management and Development, in partnership with Financial Services, will be sharing Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines to further support purchasing that is in line with the university’s values.

Questions

If you have any questions, please contact Vince Carinci, senior director, strategic procurement and payment services at vcarinci@torontomu.ca. If you have experience with or ideas for how to put the purchasing policy to use to shift the diversity and inclusion of your procurement, we also encourage you to let Vince know, as we’re looking for opportunities to share examples with our community so they may learn from them as well.