Policy on Green Procurement

The Policy on Green Procurement is a Government of Canada policy that requires environmental performance considerations to be built into federal procurement decision-making. Its objective is to advance environmental protection and support sustainable development, while applying a value-for-money and life-cycle-management approach. The policy is published on CanadaBuys.

Under the policy, "green procurement" means purchasing goods or services that have a lesser or reduced environmental impact over their life cycle than competing goods or services serving the same purpose. The policy came into effect on April 1, 2006, and was updated in 2018, as described in the guidance on applying the policy.

Life-cycle requirements under the policy

The policy requires environmental considerations to be addressed across the full life cycle of acquired goods and services. That covers planning, acquisition, operation, maintenance, and disposal or service closure. The policy text sets out this life-cycle scope and the objective behind it.

Environmental performance is weighed together with price, availability, quality and performance. It is not treated as an optional extra. The CanadaBuys buyer's guide on green procurement reflects this approach.

Who the Policy on Green Procurement applies to

The policy applies to federal departments and agencies within the meaning of section 2 of the Financial Administration Act, unless an Act or regulation overrides it. In practice it affects contracting authorities, client departments and the suppliers who take part in federal procurement, as the PSPC guidance explains.

How environmental requirements appear in solicitations

Contracting authorities may include environmental specifications, evaluation criteria, certifications, standards, packaging requirements or other environmentally preferable requirements in a solicitation. The policy does not impose one universal certification or form of proof on every supplier. The requirements depend on the commodity and the solicitation.

• Commodity management: for commodities covered by the commodity-management framework, buyers must develop and follow a green-procurement plan.
• Packaging: CanadaBuys has issued standard language for environmentally preferable packaging under the policy, which shows how the policy is carried into specific clauses. See the policy notification.
• Contract performance: suppliers may be required to meet environmental standards named in the solicitation or resulting contract, and may have to report their compliance.

Departmental targets and related instruments

Departments must establish green-procurement targets and monitor and report on their performance through departmental planning and results-reporting processes. The policy sits alongside other Government of Canada instruments, including the Greening Government Strategy, the Policy Framework for the Management of Assets and Acquired Services, and commodity-specific green-procurement plans. The Treasury Board Secretariat describes this work on its green procurement page.

What it means for a supplier bidding on federal contracts

Read each solicitation for its environmental requirements before you price or write a response. Those requirements may call for technical evidence, certifications, declarations, product information or reports during the contract. Provide proof in the form the solicitation asks for, because the general policy does not set a single standard form.

Expect environmental performance to be assessed next to price, quality and performance, and expect buyers to look at the full life cycle of what you offer. If you supply a commodity under a green-procurement plan or deliver goods that need packaging, check for the related clauses. Bid teams that document environmental claims clearly are better placed to meet these requirements.