# Assessing the Degree of Sustainability Integration in Canadian Public Sector Procurement
## 4 Key Findings
### Evaluation Process
#### 4.1.3. Most Significant Integration Example from the Large Services Sector  
The strongest example from large services was from an RFP for food and coffee services. Sustainability had a 15% weighting and focused on broad environmental efforts. In addition, it includes a breadth of stated considerations and requests ranging from a preference for sustainable products and services, and an expectation that the provider have its own sustainability plan during the term of the agreement, to a requirement that the provider participate in any type of recycling or green cleaning program the procurer may undertake. Despite the heavy point allocation, there is an opportunity to increase the direction on the material impact areas for the RFP and to build in mechanisms for accountability. Given that this RFP requires proponents to operate a cafeteria and provide catering services, significant impact areas range from waste, including food containers, packaging, and food waste, and carbon and water footprints associated with food sold, to economic participation of employees in lower paid food and service functions. Requesting specific information, such as target waste levels, percentage of food sales that are organic or local, and/or percentage of employees receiving  
Figure 10. Most significant integration example from large services.  
a living wage, would strengthen the RFP, allow for comparability across vendors, create mechanisms for accountability, and trigger a deeper integration of sustainability into the plan.  
Overall, there was superficial integration of sustainability into the RFPs, with no RFPs reaching the highest tier and only 12% reaching the third tier, where even the best had significant gaps. This indicates that procurement is not being used as a tool to advance established public policy and sustainability commitments. As such, bids with large carbon and social footprints may be awarded the contract, at the expense of bidders who have invested in the development of strong sustainability initiatives that would help governments meet their sustainability targets. This is a serious missed opportunity in a time of urgent need and scarce resources.  
Finding 2: Sustainability Integration into RFPs is Currently Narrow with Limited Consideration for Material Social and Environmental Issues  
Sustainability is a complex issue. Advancing towards it requires advancement on a range of social and environmental impact areas. Reflective of this, the United Nations has outlined 17 SDGs that aim to address core issues like climate change, inequalities, poverty, as well as good health and well-being. Meaningfully advancing on sustainability requires that all RFP providers understand and commit to addressing their material areas of impact. Materiality should be considered using the Global Reporting Initiative's definition, which refers to \"aspects that reflect the organization's significant economic, environmental, and social impacts; or substantively influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders\" [23]. As a whole, there was a demonstrated lack of understanding and incorporation of material issues within the analyzed RFPs.  
Only 78% of RFPs even reached the first tier by incorporating either base-level environmental or social considerations. As we move to tier B, only 20% of RFPs incorporated three or more areas of consideration covering both social and environmental impacts. Only one RFP analyzed reached the top tier, which required incorporating five or more specific areas of consideration (see Figure 11). Below we have provided samples reflecting the RFPs with the broadest social and environmental considerations from each sector (see Figures 12-14).  
Figure 11: Inclusion of social and environmental considerations.