# Assessing the Degree of Sustainability Integration in Canadian Public Sector Procurement
## 5 Opportunity Areas  
Given the low level of sustainability integration into existing RFPs it is evident that there are compelling opportunities to better utilize procurement to help advance sustainability-related government commitments and policy objectives. We have identified four specific recommendations that can enable a more effective use of this high impact tool. Ensure a Deep Understanding of the Breadth and Scale of Social and Environmental Impacts Associated with Purchasing Decisions  
The analysis revealed a severe lack of clarity and direction around material impact areas of the procured services and products. If procuring organizations had an understanding of material issues and opportunities and were expected to connect their work to sustainability-related government policies and commitments, it would have been evident in the RFPs. There is an opportunity for departmental and procurement professionals to be responsible for fully understanding the breadth of impacts associated with their purchasing decisions. This process would require dedicating resources to understanding material impacts of purchasing, as well as the implications of relevant policy commitments. Synergistically, there is an opportunity for policy leads to better incorporate procurement into their implementation strategies and dedicate resources to engaging and educating both departmental and procurement professionals around material impact areas and policies. Given the complexity of both sustainability as well as product and service supply chains, one cannot expect an in-depth understanding of material issues and meaningful opportunities in isolation. Constructive and solutions-oriented collaboration between policy, departmental, procurement, and supplier professionals can lay the foundation for meaningful advancement of sustainability and integration into procurement. Establish Specific Goals, Processes, and Systems to Manage and Monitor Integration of Sustainability within the Procurement Process  
Recent research found that existing policy goals are, in most cases, not reflected in the objectives, performance evaluation metrics, systems of reward, and ongoing management metrics of the procurement function within public sector institutions [35]. This analysis and the finding of generally superficial and narrow integration of sustainability within existing RFPs supports the perspective provided by interviewees in the original research. Given that all meaningful change requires a commitment to that change combined with the allocation of commensurate resources to advance the change, we see the establishment of specific goals and management systems as critical to enabling the meaningful integration of sustainability into public procurement. Restructure RFP Standards to Meaningfully Incorporate Sustainability in the Evaluation Process and to Require Critical Sustainability Related Information  
It is natural that evaluation would drive behavior and responses; bidders looking to be successful focus on what is clearly articulated as priorities in the RFP. If sustainability is missing from the evaluation section, in most cases it will be absent from the procuring organizations priorities, as well as from the response and priorities of bidders. There is a significant opportunity to restructure the standard RFP design to meaningfully incorporate sustainability into the evaluation process. This will ensure that sustainability is being incorporated, evaluated and tracked. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including:  
* Requiring the identification of material areas of impact by the procurer and the request of specific and detailed information to enable the assessment of the bid with regards to these areas. Requiring procurers to invest in understanding material areas of impact will ensure that there is upfront consideration and incorporation into the RFP.