In point form, simply summarize key insights on removing barriers to participation in procurement from the below text at an 8th-grade reading level and provide brief supporting quotes with ID numbers:     0105: Procurement processes are inherently complicated, largely driven by statutory and legislative obligations that we have. We need to continue to meet those while creating an environment flexible enough to provide whatever level of accessibility that we can.

0106: I would want our aspirations (i.e. supplier diversity) to make it into policy. The things that we talk about that are important I would want to see in policy. I don’t know what effect it would happen, but it’s one thing I can think of.

0114: I think it’s just really important to have strong ESG rated requirements that go in every RFP, even if they don’t seem too applicable, so that they’re considered every time. 

0118: Website refresh and think about how we can change our communication about procurement, collect disaggregated business ownership, exploring self-identification, set-asides, first round of invitations being diverse suppliers and THEN you go to other suppliers

0119: I would bump all the thresholds up because we have such a big spend. Their thresholds are more in line with a smaller organization (city spends a couple billion and has thresholds for an org closer to 500k spend). I’d like to see a schedule that outlines what doesn’t fall in procurement. I find the city’s schedule A or what isn’t procurement is very limiting, so we see things that don’t fall well into our processes, and it just doesn’t make sense. There could be carve outs for a lot of these equity seeking groups.

0122: Operating like I was private sector where I could work with one supplier, develop a vendor network. Because I would be working from ground level and building my relationships with small businesses and potentially grow together. It works well and it’s win-win, and maybe the supplier would be more keen to work with me compared to no where you deal with medium and large companies that you can’t negotiate with. Maybe some contracts I’ll compete, but the ability to choose. When you bid on everything then sometimes by the time you get the vendor to a good spot the contract is ending and you’re going to market again, and you lose all that investment of effort and time.

Suggestions 3C.3

0104: I think it would be more identifying what those barriers were. Seeing wat we can do to adapt and accommodate. Maybe it is who those vendors are who want to participate but haven’t in the past. Meeting with someone before they become a supplier and telling them about how to do business with us. So when something comes up that suits their needs, they're prepared for it.

0107: Attitudinal barriers are the most important things that I face every day. Specific to hiring there are so many barriers. When someone is hired with a disability and then eventually request an accommodation, it’s seen as lying about their ability to do the job, rather than a reflection of changing circumstances, or a misunderstanding about the requirements of the position. The lack of understanding between equity and equality, the perception that we need to treat everyone the same way. Many people see support as an advantage, not as an equity strategy so that the person can just perform. Lack of knowledge that seniority is not as important as human rights, employment equity.

0108: Make sure that everyone interested in doing business is not shy to reach out, ongoing outreach and engagement in the market 

0109: 3 bids and a buy, small buying and simpler tendering processes. Push things out at a scale that doesn’t trigger USMCA requirements but are still competitive tenders. Make things that are currently soler-sourced/purchased directly by end users more formal so that we can publicize more, 100k-200k sweet spot of worth pursuing but realistic for a small business. Asking ourselves early in the process “have we considered accessibility?”

0112: Head: When I speak to partners they want accessibility clauses, which is easy, but the workflow that follows from there is the difficult part. I wouldn’t characterize it as tokenism, it’s not understanding the implications of having a clause without knowing how to execute it is. SEE RECORDING Arming people with the knowledge to make the decision themselves, or when they need to go to the expert group/escalate. Director: Red tape and bureaucracy is maybe the biggest problem to making procurement more accessible. Another big piece is education. We put a clause in that says everything must be accessible but don’t know what it means when, for example, you buy pens. Improving that education and making processes more efficient.

0113: I would simplify the process to becoming a supplier. This would entail ensuring that all application materials are in plain language, the process is in plain language and the steps are simple and not numerous, and the bidding process is simple. I would also ensure that diverse suppliers are highlighted when purchasers of services/products are looking for a supplier. 

0114: Trying to reach out to a broader list of suppliers or maybe, our RFPs are sometimes posted publicly but not always, and I think going public is helpful because you never know who might come down the pipeline that wasn’t previously considered. Being open to feedback from the people we’re working with. I’m certainly not an expert but if someone said “for this reason I need 2 extra weeks” we’re usually quite open to providing extra time.

0115: The front end user experience from the external user perspective. I can deal with the internal problems but I think for the external user that has to be improved, because I don't think it's a positive experience for the external supplier.

0117: Unconscious ableism is alive. People are used to doing things the way they’ve been doing them. Policy, procedures, process, systems, behaviours, and attitudes that we built over the years. We need to educate people to understand the other side as well as the opportunities, innovation ,support available and how we can be a just society economically and socially. It’s vital we reflect every member of the community coast to coast. 


0119: I would like to see us market ourselves better in the government sector. The process can appear to be onerous, but go for it, and just really encourage them. I find some of the requirements of equity seeking suppliers for them to have certification is a barrier to them (e.g. 51% owned for business who maybe had to bring in venture to get capital or similar)

0120: Consulting with various suppliers and certifying organizations as to which platforms are most user friendly instead of looking only for the cheapest option. Ask before we implement to hear what options are available.

0121: Technology would be number one. Social procurement, meaning that the contract will definitely be awarded to a small company which has people with disabilities on staff. Providing awareness, knowledge and disability confidence in others to promote them to do business with vendors with disabilities.

0123: I think it comes back to resources. It’s difficult to make improvements or changes when we’re just doing the work to keep the lights on, and things slip through the cracks.

0125: I think it’s resourcing. There’s a lot of information, they have a great site, and this area’s involving and that’ll be an opportunity to incorporate more information, but sometimes these questions come up like “what should we do without a procurement advisor?” We have to wait 6 months for an advisor but we have questions from our internal customers. Incorporate into training what we can do as facilitators to be more accessible/inclusive. We learned that our evaluator saw the accessibility component as part of a demo, the vendors did, and it really raised awareness that we’ve asked for evaluators. That triggers the thought process, how do I use these, are there others who should be using it?

0127: We’re always advocating for anonymizing. If you didn’t know anything about the person bidding, and you’re strictly looking at what the product is, that could help remove a lot of bias. Even in the personal relationship space, if you didn’t know which company was which during evaluation, you couldn’t attribute it to anybody. It would be an onerous process, you’d need someone to take care of stripping identifying information from the proposals, but it could be done.