Currently on-line in Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Surrey, Fraser Valley, Calgary, Vancouver Island and Waterloo Region, we are engaged with local communities who are developing or considering local SPP sites in West Kootenays, Halifax, Ottawa, Edmonton, London, Sault Ste. Marie, and other cities across the country.

SPP Vancouver
History and Early Successes...
The SPP was initially launched in Vancouver in June of 2003, www.sppvancouver.org. The project was initially supported financially and with volunteer expertise by the BC Technology Social Venture Partners.

The BCT SVP partners from the Vancouver area comprised the initial purchasing partners on the SPP. Suppliers of goods and services were recruited from Vancouver’s East side, such as Logotex and Mills Basics; businesses providing essential business services such as Novex Couriers; and social enterprises active in the Vancouver area. As of November 2004 there are over 100 purchasing businesses and almost 50 suppliers.

As originally projected, the Social Purchasing Portal has produced a direct relationship between increasing the purchasing to the selected suppliers and the creation of employment opportunities. In the period of time that the portal has been live we have had over 50 people hired by participating organizations, reflecting over $500,000 of new business activity in the area. As an example, Cook Studio Catering, a social entrepreneur that hires directly from their youth-at-risk training program into their commercial catering business, has hired five persons due to a substantial increase in catering business, a significant share of which comes from Pivotal and other purchasing partners that are finding their catering decisions easier to make. We are also seeing that as the employers, such as Mills Basics and Logotex, experience the quality and ambition of the new employees, there is an increasing willingness from them to hire.

The critical growth factor for the SPP’s success is escalating purchaser involvement and purchasing activity. To this end we continue to broaden our reach into the private sector, and across sectors: technology, law-firms, accounting and business consultants, financial and others. In addition, we continue to implement a concerted effort to engage the NGO/non-profit sector, encouraging them to enhance the value of the funds they raise for charitable activities by making socially valued purchases through the SPP for their existing office and operational goods and services.

SPP Toronto (www.spptoronto.org)
With the support of national partners already engaged in the Vancouver SPP, SPPToronto.org had a soft launch in June 2004, and have continued to engage purchasing and supplier partners locally over the summer and fall, attracting strong organizations to join it and support its mission. SPP Toronto is a joint project of the Learning Enrichment Foundation and ITAC Ontario.

SPP Winnipeg (www.sppwinnipeg.org)
Seed Winnipeg has launched the Social Purchasing Portal in that city and the response has been immediate, with growing local business engagement.

SPP Surrey (www.sppsurrey.org)
With the support from our partners, North Fraser Community Futures Development and Community Innovations and our sponsoring partners, HRSDC, Western Economic Diversification, Coast Capital Savings and Vibrant Surrey, SPP Surrey launched July 2005. Local businesses, neighbourhood organizations and the general public all work together in this unique portal which leverages a citywide initiative of community economic development goals and corporate social & community responsibilities to create a better, more vibrant Surrey.

SPP Fraser Valley (www.sppfraservalley.org)
The Fraser Valley Social Purchasing Portal is a partnership of Mennonite Central Committee Employment & Community Development Office, the South Fraser Community Futures and Coast Capital Savings. The partnership represents a merger of private sector socially responsible business expertise with a coalition of organizations committed to community-based economic development. The site has been live since November 2005 and is called SPP Fraser Valley because it covers the communities of Chilliwack, Mission, Abbotsford and Hope.

SPP Calgary (www.sppcalgary.org)
Momentum is a Community Economic Development (CED) organization that offers hope and opportunity to people living in poverty. Momentum is a not-for-profit society that has been partnering with low-income Calgarians to develop their productive futures since 1991.

SPP Vancouver Island (www.sppvi.org)
The Community Council, a registered charitable organization that provides leadership to bring the community together to enhance quality of life for everyone in BC's Capital Region and its sponsoring partners, Service Canada, Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, Coast Capital Savings, and CEDTAP had a soft launch of the Vancouver Island portal during Corporate Social Responsibility Week in May 2006. An official launch of SPP Vancouver Island's pilot year is planned for September 2006 and will primarily focus on engaging BC Capital Region suppliers and purchasers before it branches out to other regions on Vancouver Island.

The Portal's vision of a vibrant region where society thrives because business thrives is supported by local businesses, a coalition of employment providers, and the general public because they see themselves as part of the solution.

SPP Waterloo Region (www.sppwaterlooregion.org)
The Waterloo Region Social Purchasing Portal officially launched in November 2006, with generous funding from The Ontario Trillium Foundation, Waterloo-Wellington Training and Adjustment Board, Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Disability Support Program. The project is led by the Waterloo-Wellington Training and Adjustment Board and Opportunities Waterloo Region. We have already had our first successful hire and as the Portal grows, we will continue to build employment opportunities for individuals who face barriers. The Portal is a simple and straightforward way for businesses and organizations to transform the community through socially-conscious decisions.