Although staff recommended keeping the city's procurement policy as is, 麻豆精选 council has made a slight adjustment.
Council heard that Canadian companies, including local firms, account for 98 per cent or more of city purchases and contracts. The current policy does support local and Canadian suppliers. The policy review comes amid the tariff was with the U.S.
"I would propose that council direct staff to enhance the existing policy by adding language around preference to award procurement to Canadian companies when all other evaluating criteria are equal," Mayor Tom Dyas said at council's May 5 regular meeting.
Councillor Ron Cannan initially brought the matter to council鈥檚 March 31 meeting, seeking to modernize the policy to better reflect council鈥檚 priorities and promote local, provincial, and Canadian manufacturers wherever possible.
Director of Financial Services Joe Sass provided data indicating that approximately two per cent of city purchases over the past two years were from non-Canadian firms.
"So in the data set that we looked at, for the purposes of that review, that's approximately $10 million over the last two years," Sass added. "However, it's important to note that we don't necessarily have every industry in Canada that we may need to serve the residents of 麻豆精选."
Sass also noted that excluding U.S. firms entirely could, in some cases, contravene existing trade agreements between Canada and the U.S.
He added that the city spent approximately $500 million on procurement and purchasing in 2024. Mayor Dyas cited a report indicating that, in 2023, the city issued 5,200 purchase orders, 126 of which went to non-Canadian companies鈥攁bout 2.4 per cent.
