The federal government (excluding Crown corporations) is the single largest public sector purchaser in Canada with annual spending of over $13 billion on products and services. Government procurement practices have an impact on the national economy and the goods and services made available in the market place.

Reduction of Consumption/
Sustainable consumption

The ultimate objectives of green procurement are to reduce the consumption of resources in order to reduce the generation of waste, to minimize environmental, health and financial risks, and to reduce costs.

Green Purchasing

Green procurement is the procurement of products and services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose. A green product is one that is less harmful than the next best alternative.

Federal employees can help reduce the impact of government operations by promoting and following green procurement practices. By purchasing environmentally responsible goods and services, waste, resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. This, in turn, decreases the risk to the environment and to human health.

Measures such as purchasing environmentally responsible office products and supplies as well as adopting pollution prevention criteria when purchasing goods and services are examples of initiatives to advance sound environmental management for government operations.

Eco-Labeling

Eco-labeling or environmental labeling indicates that a product meets standards of environmental soundness that are supported by extensive research into the product's impact on the environment.

The Environmental Choice® Program (ECP) is Environment Canada's eco-labeling program. It provides access to a list of more environmentally responsible products and services that have received the EcoLogo certification.

The international symbol ENERGYSTAR^® identifies products that are the most energy-efficient on the market. In Canada, ENERGYSTAR^®includes several product categories: office equipment; appliances; heating, ventilating and cooling equipment; consumer electronics; lighting; signage and commercial and industrial equipment. ENERGYSTAR^® is promoted and administered by Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency.

Contracting

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), as a common service agency, is responsible for the contracting of goods and services on behalf of client departments. PWGSC is also responsible for facilitating client department purchases such as through the establishment of Standing Offers. Departments are responsible for deciding on the criteria to be used in purchasing goods and services, including environmental characteristics.

Green Meetings

Departments and organizations can reduce the environmental impacts from their operations by planning meetings and conferences that are as environmentally responsible as possible.

Organizing a "green" meeting involves adopting a pollution prevention approach and thinking of the environmental considerations at every stage of the organization process. This means choosing to hold a teleconference whenever possible. If a conference/workshop/meeting is deemed more appropriate, considerations to the location of the meeting, the type of services contracted, and even the commuting mode to and from the meeting should be considered. A short commuting distance will generate less outside emissions. Outside emissions are defined as greenhouse gas (GHG) and other air emissions that are not directly attributable to federal government operations, but result from government and work-related activities such as business travel and employee commuting.

The Green Meeting Guide is a practical reference tool for anyone faced with the task of organizing a meeting or conference with the aim of making the event environmentally responsible. It provides information on how to incorporate environmental concerns at every stage of an event.  The Green Meeting Guide was created by Environment Canada as part of its mandate to green a major international meeting of 10,000 + delegates but, it can be used for any size of meeting.

The Tools section provides access to guidelines, best practices, etc. which can contribute to minimize the environmental impact of your meetings and procurement practices.

A list of Canadian web sites (from provincial and territorial governments as well as from the private and the not-for-profit sectors) and International web sites focusing on the issue of green procurement is available in the Links section.