Environmental performance opportunities

Environmental performance opportunities are chances to build environmental considerations into procurement decisions and operations so that purchasing protects the environment and supports sustainable development. The phrase appears in the Government of Canada's implementation guidance for the Policy on Green Procurement, published on CanadaBuys.

Federal guidance says these opportunities must be identified and implemented at both strategic and operational levels. In practice, a department looks for them while it develops a procurement strategy, and then carries the resulting requirements into the procurement activities that follow. For suppliers, the term describes the thinking behind environmental criteria that show up in solicitations.

Where the phrase sits in the Policy on Green Procurement

The Policy on Green Procurement treats green procurement as the integration of environmental considerations into planning, acquisition, use and disposal. The policy text is published by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in its Policy on Green Procurement. Environmental performance is weighed alongside cost, performance, availability and quality when a department determines value for money. It is not an add-on applied after the fact.

What federal buyers must do with these opportunities

The implementation guidance sets out three linked duties for departments and agencies:

• Consider opportunities to protect the environment and support sustainable development when developing procurement strategies.
• Integrate the resulting environmental requirements into procurement activities.
• Document the environmental considerations and decisions related to that integration.

These duties are described in the Policy on Green Procurement guidance. Because buyers must record their decisions, the reasoning behind an environmental requirement in a bid is something the department is expected to be able to explain.

The life-cycle view behind the considerations

Federal green procurement uses a whole-life-cycle perspective, from resource extraction through disposal. That view includes total cost of ownership and environmental risks and opportunities, as set out in the policy. The considerations that can apply include:

• Greenhouse-gas emissions
• Energy and water efficiency
• Waste reduction, reuse and recycling
• Renewable resources
• Hazardous substances
• Biodiversity

Related terms you will meet in tender documents include environmentally preferable goods and services, life-cycle costing, life-cycle assessment, embodied carbon and environmental criteria.

How the Greening Government Strategy raises the bar

The Greening Government Strategy adds specific commitments. It calls for environmental criteria addressing greenhouse-gas reductions and broader environmental benefits in procurements of products and services with high environmental impact. It also calls for climate-resilience criteria in certain high-value procurements and for supplier emissions information.

Common-service instruments such as standing offers and supply arrangements are to include or enhance environmental criteria for commodities with high environmental impact. The strategy further calls for suppliers to provide greenhouse-gas life-cycle-assessment reports as deliverables for high-value procurements beginning in 2025.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Expect environmental performance to be evaluated as part of value for money, not only price. Depending on the solicitation, you may be asked to demonstrate performance against environmental criteria, provide environmental or emissions data, submit life-cycle-assessment information, or meet specified environmental requirements.

The policy does not impose one universal supplier deliverable, so the obligation is set by each solicitation and contract. Read the criteria and deliverables closely, and keep your emissions and life-cycle data ready before a bid is issued. Suppliers who can supply it clearly are better placed when a buyer has built these opportunities into the procurement strategy.