City of Mississauga

Sustainable Purchasing Policy & Implementation Plan

Sustainable practices like minimizing waste, energy consumption and packaging is nothing new for the City of Mississauga; however, these practices are ad hoc, meaning it is not nearly as effective as it can be. In comparison to cities of comparable size, there was a lot of potential for improvement within the city’s Sustainable Purchasing practices.

Reeve worked with the City of Mississauga to develop a sustainable purchasing policy and a three-year implementation plan. The project involved in-depth internal and external stakeholder consultation and a benchmarking exercise. The policy takes an inclusive approach to a range of key environmental, social and ethical objectives. The policy and the implementation plan encourages City staff to consider sustainability in the procurement process and to seek out opportunities for positive impact.

Reeve helped Mississauga embed sustainability in their procurement modernization process and apply it as part of the roll-out of their new online Enterprise Procurement Centre. We worked closely with the legal group and involved them in vetting the newly drafted policies and procedures.

At the conclusion of the project, Mississauga City Council approved the policy and the 3 Year Sustainable Procurement Strategy. This also inspired the city to put resources towards hiring a Program Coordinator to continue the Sustainable Purchasing movement by developing and rolling-out a training program for buyers, contract managers and client department teams.

“The breadth of experience and public-sector connections that Tim and the Reeve team have brought to the City’s Sustainable Procurement Initiative (SPI) has been invaluable. Their practical and proven approach gave our staff confidence that social and environmental procurement was attainable and aligned with our existing core priorities. The insights they facilitate through the CCSP Social Procurement Working Group has already allowed Mississauga to advance more effectively.” – Natalie Adams, Sustainable Purchasing Coordinator, City of Mississauga

Sustainable Procurement Explainer Video