Social Procurement in Municipal Construction

Social procurement is being incorporated increasingly in development and infrastructure projects, from being a required condition of funding under Infrastructure Canada's Community Employment Benefits, to the City of Vancouver's CBA Policy, to homegrown procurement policy initiatives by municipalities across Canada. For municipal engineers involved in any aspect of the construction continuum, whether in-house or as consultants, understanding the role of community benefits in construction, their impact to structuring procurements, and how to administer the resulting contracts is essential. This session will explore real life examples, how community benefits can be created in construction, tools from Buy Social Canada that can help with implementation, and the legal and practical frameworks that lead to project success.

Speakers

Sonia Sahota, LLP, P.Eng.

Sonia is a partner of Civic Legal LLP, a firm that services BC local governments and other public authorities in the areas of procurement, construction, and land development. Sonia brings 15 years of legal experience in tendering, procurement, land development, and construction matters to clients, with a particular focus on tender law, procurement fairness, and construction contracting. Sonia is also a non-practicing professional engineer, having left the practice after a decade of working on civil and geotechnical design and construction projects in northern British Columbia and overseas.

In addition to providing legal advice on all general municipal matters, Sonia routinely provides advice on structuring and administering public tenders and competitive RFPs, managing contractor performance, amending industry standard form contracts, and working on builders lien and land tenure issues. She frequently writes and speaks on procurement matters, such as Canadian tendering law, procurement processes, funding public amenities, social procurement considerations, and impacts of free trade agreements. Sonia also publishes and presents regularly on legal topics of interest to members of the local government and construction communities, such as Engineers and Geoscientists BC, Local Government Management Agency, and Public Works Association of BC.

Tori Williamson

With a passion for understanding the systems around us and working collaboratively on community-centred solutions, Tori believes in people and the power of shifting perspectives and objectives to create monumental change. As Director of Education and Communications at Buy Social Canada, she spearheads engagement and works across the social procurement ecosystem. She sits on the Stronger Together Solidarity Working Group to help bring inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility to the social innovation sector. Currently, she is the Project Manager for the Surrey Community Employment Benefits project, Wood Buffalo Social Procurement Implementation and the lead for Buy Social Canada’s Social Procurement Supplier Readiness training program.