Some 15 Canadian universities, from coast to coast, have come together to form a working group on sustainable procurement, with McGill playing a leading role thanks to the expertise of Procurement Services.
Members of the new group, known as CASPAR, share a desire to align their spending with their universities’ sustainability objectives. This entails taking social and environmental considerations into account when purchasing goods or services or spending on construction.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to influence our institutions’ social, environmental and climate footprints,” said Stéphanie Leclerc, McGill’s Program Manager for Sustainable Procurement and CASPAR co-chair.
“We have many suppliers in common and share a desire to reduce supply chain risks, including threats to biodiversity or the use of forced labour. Since we want to discourage abuses, and leverage our spending to generate positive impacts, it makes sense to work together on best practices.”
McGill’s institutional purchases amount to close to half a billion dollars annually.
CASPAR’s priorities
Current CASPAR priorities include capacity-building and growth of the network. A key goal is to have all Canadian universities adopt sustainable procurement practices. The group aims to develop common tools and standards and engage in joint monitoring of market developments and issues. These are areas where McGill has been trying to assist peers so all can move forward together.
“For example, we organized two webinars. One was on the quantification of scope 3.1 emissions, the greenhouse gas emissions that are produced from purchased goods and services. The other was about the new federal act to fight against forced labour and child labour in supply chains, something that many are still learning how best to report on. We also widely share our Supplier Code of Conduct,” said Leclerc.
Working together
“We are proud to be part of this initiative, which was instigated in collaboration with other procurement professionals, notably at Carleton University, Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria, Queen’s University, OCAD University, the University of Toronto, and many others from across the country,” said François Pouliot, Senior Director of McGill’s Procurement Services.
Representatives from McGill and Carleton are currently serving as co-chairs and the group’s Teams platform is hosted at Queen’s University. The group’s executive sponsor, looking to increase buy-in to the project, is Martin Pochurko, VP Finance and Administration at Simon Fraser University.
“The CASPAR working group is a tremendous example of how universities can work together to find everyday solutions to today’s climate and social challenges,” said Pochurko.
“Through CASPAR, Canadian universities share strategies, common practices, and results to make more valuable contributions to institutional sustainability goals.”
While institutional procurement offices have been collaborating for some time, notably though the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO), CASPAR stems from those exchanges and the desire to formalize and ramp-up sustainability-focused collaboration.