The “Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB)” has accounted for an average of less than 1% (0.32%) of total annual federal procurement spending since 1996.

Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business released “Industry and Inclusion: An Analysis of Indigenous Potential in Federal Supply Chains” calling on the federal government to increase the dollar value of its procurement spending with Aboriginal businesses to 5% of total procurement spending by 2024. The report found there is surplus Aboriginal business capacity to meet the needs of government and that a 5% target, which reflects the Indigenous population in Canada, is “realistic and achievable.”

As noted above, on Dec. 13, 2020, the Government of Canada committed to increasing their procurement spend with Indigenous business partners to 5%.

CCAB Industry and Inclusion Recommendations:

• Set a government-wide Indigenous procurement target of 5% within five years, through a 1 percentage point increase annually. Each federal department and agency should lay out a strategy to achieve this target and report annually on progress
• Require that all departments incorporate considerations of Indigenous peoples (business and community) analogous to the requirements for gender-based analysis for submissions to Treasury Board
• Develop additional programs to support existing Aboriginal suppliers in department purchase categories where there is currently insufficient Aboriginal business capacity to supply
• Conduct additional research to identify key barriers to Indigenous business participation in federal supply chains, both from the perspective of Aboriginal business and government procurement officers