Green procurement requirements

Green procurement requirements are the environmental criteria and conditions that Canadian federal buyers build into how they plan, acquire, use and dispose of goods and services. The aim is to select products and services that have a lower environmental impact over their life cycle than comparable alternatives. In federal policy, life-cycle impacts, risks, total cost of ownership and environmental performance all feed into the value-for-money decision.

The term is used mainly in Canadian federal procurement policy. It is not a technical term defined by NATO. For a supplier, green procurement requirements show up as mandatory criteria, disclosure obligations, reporting duties and product conditions written into solicitations, standing offers, supply arrangements and contracts.

What the Policy on Green Procurement requires

The Treasury Board Policy on Green Procurement says green procurement integrates environmental considerations into procurement planning, acquisition, use and disposal. It requires environmental stewardship and life-cycle principles to be part of normal procurement practice.

The policy asks buyers to consider the whole life cycle of goods and services, from resource extraction through disposal. That includes total cost of ownership and the environmental risks and benefits of what is being bought. Federal departments and agencies must buy environmentally preferable goods and services where value for money or best value is demonstrated, as set out in the guidance on applying the policy.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat sets the policy and standards. Departments and agencies apply them to their own procurements and report on compliance.

How PSPC applies environmental criteria

Public Services and Procurement Canada has included environmental criteria in shared procurement instruments since the policy was introduced in 2006. PSPC describes these in its mandatory criteria page. The criteria can apply to solicitations, standing offers, supply arrangements and the contracts that result from them.

Requirements can address every stage of the procurement life cycle: planning, defining requirements, acquisition, operation and maintenance, and disposal or service closure. Packaging provisions are one example. They can require or encourage suppliers to use packaging that is reusable, returnable or recyclable.

The federal government also applies environmental requirements to buildings, electricity, vehicles, fuels, information technology, equipment, plastics, concrete and steel, according to the Greening Government Strategy implementation materials.

Greenhouse-gas disclosure on large procurements

For procurements over $25 million including taxes, the Standard on the Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Setting of Reduction Targets applies. The procurement process must induce suppliers to measure and disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions and to adopt a science-based reduction target. Suppliers can do this through the Net-Zero Challenge or an equivalent initiative or standard.

The Greening Government Strategy materials also identify supplier greenhouse-gas life-cycle assessment reports as a requirement for high-value procurements, beginning in 2025. Federal procurement instruments can include requirements or incentives for these reports.

ISO 20400 and how it relates

ISO 20400:2017, Sustainable procurement: Guidance, is a related international standard. It gives guidance on integrating sustainability into procurement. As the ISO 20400 overview states, it does not itself establish requirements. Federal green procurement requirements come from Treasury Board policy and the clauses in each procurement instrument, not from ISO 20400.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Read the solicitation and the contract clauses closely. Environmental obligations depend on the procurement instrument and its stated requirements.

• Demonstrate compliance with any mandatory environmental criteria.
• Provide the disclosures or reports the solicitation asks for, including greenhouse-gas information on large or high-value procurements.
• Meet any life-cycle, emissions, packaging or product-performance conditions.

Buyers can also consult the CanadaBuys green procurement guidance, which helps suppliers understand what buyers are directed to look for.