When Essex County Council meets Wednesday night, councillors will get an update on efforts to implement a buy Canadian strategy.
A report outlines options to support Canadian businesses during the trade war by prioritizing them.
The last time councillors updated the county's procurement policy was February 2024. Since the trade war with the U.S. started, there's been more interest in strengthening local procurement policies.
Last February, councillors adopted a motion directing staff to explore a "Buy Canadian Procurement Strategy." To do that, county staff believe a clear definition of "Canadian content" and greater transparency and consistency in how Canadian goods and services are required are needed.
Part of the challenge is to write a policy that doesn't violate legal obligations under our trade agreements, while continuing to get value for county dollars.
Administrators looked at Ontario's policy restricting some U.S. businesses in provincial procurement and concluded it strikes a good balance between promoting Canadian content and maintaining an accessible bidding process.
"The provincial direction has shifted slightly from a strict Canada First strategy, recognizing that while prioritizing Canadian goods and services is important, there may be circumstances where Canadian options are unavailable," said the report. "In such cases, sourcing from allied international trade partners is considered acceptable."
County staff recommend a policy similar to Ontario's.
Municipalities that have adopted Buy Canadian policies include Toronto, Ottawa, Mississauga, and Vaughan.
Windsor has discussed a policy, but hasn't yet adopted one.