PROCUREMENT

Indigenous economic reconciliation takes time and effort. It takes a willingness to decolonize procurement processes and a commitment to support and promote Indigenous businesses.

This Directory is one piece of our individual procurement processes. We each have social procurement goals, procurement policies, and processes that guide our organizations. To learn more about our procurement processes, please see below. To add your Indigenous business to the directory, click here.

City of Victoria

The City of Victoria’s Economic Action Plan, “Victoria 3.0 Pivoting to a Higher Value Economy, 2020-2041,” identifies 8 actions to support Indigenous businesses. One, of which, is maintaining an Indigenous Business Directory. Others include holding quarterly Indigenous Prosperity Gatherings, continuing the Indigenous Connect Forum, and creating a mentorship program.

The City of Victoria maintains a competitive bidding process in accordance with municipal and provincial laws. To support this process, they use a system called Bonfire to post all business opportunities. Check out their procurement page to learn how to sign-up to be notified about new opportunities and to bid on opportunities directly. Specific questions can be directed to purchasing@victoria.ca.

The City of Victoria’s Procurement Policy can be found here.

Capital Regional District

The Capital Regional District may purchase from Indigenous businesses and non-profits either as a direct-award or by way of set-aside competition, with the goal of supporting regional economic capacity building. Competitive opportunities are posted on BCBid.ca, as well as on CRD’s Business Opportunities Portal, here. Indigenous businesses may be approached for direct-awards or sole-source procurements depending on CRD operational needs and value.  

Greater Victoria Harbour Authority

In June 2019, with support from our First Nations Economic Development Committee, GVHA revised its Procurement Policy to include language about how the organization would work to support Indigenous businesses. This includes ensuring that Indigenous business have the same opportunities as other qualified contractors to participate in a competitive manner on all RFPs, and actively seeking opportunities for direct-awards to Indigenous businesses, where possible.

GVHA has set targets to increase its Indigenous procurement year over year in both capital and operational expenditures.

You can read more about GVHA’s efforts to support Indigenous businesses here.

You can find information about business opportunities here and information about bids, proposals, and expressions of interest here.

Please reach out to GVHA at gvha@gvha.ca if you have any questions about procurement and business opportunities.

South Island Prosperity Partnership

South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP) represents a new era of economic development for Greater Victoria. Together our mission is to build a more innovative, diversified, inclusive and sustainable economy for Southern Vancouver Island.

SIPP was formed in April 2016 to bolster the region’s economic and social prosperity. This mandated regional economic development alliance includes 10 municipalities, nine First Nations communities, five chambers of commerce, three post-secondary institutions, and many of the region’s major employers, non-profits and business organizations. In the six years since SIPP launched, it has grown from 29 to over 70 members and achieved major milestones with a small, agile team and an extensive, engaged network of members and community partners.

SIPP is supporting the development of a non-profit organization to support Indigenous-led economic development on the South Island. Through learning, sharing, and connecting partners in the economic ecosystem, the Indigenous Prosperity Centre will deepen inclusion and contribute to economic reconciliation in the region. 

Please reach out to SIPP at info@southislandprosperity.ca.

Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce

Established in 1863, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce has played a significant role in the success of Greater Victoria. Over the years, The Chamber has initiated or been involved with establishing the South Island Film Commission, South Island Prosperity Partnership, VIATEC and Destination Greater Victoria.

Today, with more than 1,300 members, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce is one of the 3 largest chambers in British Columbia and the largest on Vancouver Island. Our membership reflects our region’s diverse business community and the interests of small, medium and large businesses in every economic sector.

In 2021, The Chamber acknowledged the role that the business community played in suppressing Indigenous culture, spiritual beliefs, family practices and stewardship of the land, sea and air. We also committed to taking actions towards reconciliation and inclusion, such as through the creation of the Indigenous Economic Reconciliation Table and the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advancement) Committee. The Chamber, on behalf of our members, is working to ensure Indigenous voices and interests are heard.

The Chamber is proud to include the T'Sou-ke, MÁLEXEȽ, and Lək̓ʷəŋən Nations as Chamber members, as well as many Indigenous-owned businesses.

Please reach out to chamber@victoriachamber.ca to learn more about how Indigenous businesses are making new connections and growing their networks through their involvement with The Chamber.