Good Jobs + Good Business = Better Community

ORGANIZATION:
City of Victoria

Year: 2017

The Mayor’s Social Enterprise and Social Procurement Task Force Draft Action Plan

The Mayor’s Social Enterprise and Social Procurement Task Force was a recommendation of the Task Force on Economic Development and Prosperity. The Economic Development Task Force concluded its work in the fall of 2015 with the publication of the City’s Economic Action Plan, Making Victoria: Unleashing Potential. That Action Plan identifies six sectors that serve as the primary engines to driving economic prosperity, generating jobs and raising household incomes. One engine that encompasses the rest is entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

The Social Enterprise and Social Procurement Task Force has developed an Action Plan with recommendations that are meant to strengthen and reward our small business sector, help people who are out of the workforce get to work, and grow a strong, inclusive economy at the same time. The Action Plan is in three parts. First, there are recommended actions the City can take to ensure it is procuring goods and services in a way that also maximizes community benefit, and social and environmental sustainability. Second, there are recommendations to strengthen the small business and social enterprise sectors to the benefit of the community. Third, there are recommendations that can drive larger scale economic change.

Many businesses in Victoria already do business in such a way as to benefit the community. The aim of the recommendations in this Action Plan is to recognize and reward them and to increase the number of businesses operating in this way.

Table of Contents

Set-Up
Recommendations at a Glance
Background
Task Force Membership
The Approach
Community Economic Development and Genuine Well-Being
The Strategic Focus
Our Commitment to Performance
Measurement and Sustainable Impact
Values, Assets and Obstacles
Overview of City’s
Procurement Expenditures
Recommendations
Recommendation #1: Social Procurement
Recommendation #2: Social Enterprise Development
Recommendation #3: Leading Economic Change
Appendices
Appendix A – Elements to be Included in City’s Social Procurement Framework
Appendix B – Definitions
Appendix C – Social Enterprises Needed in Victoria
Appendix D – Vancouver Island Social Innovation Zone