City of Brampton is Ontario’s third-largest city. With a population of over 800,000, Brampton is a vibrant community that celebrates innovation, sustainability and cultural richness. Actively supporting diversity, inclusivity and equal opportunity, The City of Brampton’s Supply Chain Diversity Program supports the City’s goals of increasing opportunities and embedding diversity by the integration of diverse suppliers into its Invitational Procurement process ($25,000–$100,000). Participating suppliers must be certified as diverse through recognized non-profit certification organizations including WBE Canada.
As a WBE Canada Corporate Member since 2020, the City of Brampton is actively strengthening its reputation as a welcoming City, enjoying the economic and social benefits of a growing population and an expanding local economy by creating equitable opportunity through innovation, fair and transparent competition and embracing the mosaic of its communities.
WBE Canada recently sat down with members of the City’s Purchasing Division to better understand their Supply Chain Diversity Program and the value and benefits of being part of WBE Canada and the importance of certification for small and medium-sized enterprises when it comes to working with government organizations.
WBE Canada: Why WBE Canada? What are the key benefits you have experienced as a Corporate Member?
City of Brampton: The success of our Supply Chain Diversity Program relies heavily on access to a database of certified suppliers. Our strategic priority is to build a diverse and local economy so having access to a broader pool of diverse suppliers helps us meet our goal of increasing opportunities for diverse SMEs. The valuable knowledge and insights WBE Canada provide definitely help in how we collaborate internally and externally to grow and succeed in our efforts.
WC: How do you engage the various departments within the City’s Purchasing Division to embrace inclusive sourcing and working with WBEs?
CoB: When we developed and adopted our Supply Chain Diversity Program, we embedded supplier diversity into our invitational procurement process. The policy requires that at least one of the three invited suppliers be certified by a third-party certification council. The program’s manager provides one-on-one support to all departments, offering guidance and recommending certified diverse suppliers as needed. As our awareness and understanding of diverse suppliers has grown, we’ve been able to identify program gaps through regular and on-going assessments. This has allowed us to provide more targeted guidance to departments, helping sustain and strengthen the program.
WC: Why is it important to continue to work with certifying councils in Canada?
CoB: Delivering the certification component of the program in-house is not feasible due to capacity limitations. So having continued access to an ever-growing list of certified diverse suppliers is critical to the program’s success. Third-party certification like WBE Canada, enhances the credibility of our supplier inclusion efforts by ensuring due diligence and validation of supplier claims
WC: Like many municipalities throughout Canada, the City of Brampton has a “Made in Canada” procurement policy. Can you share any insights into how this approach has affected the opportunities you already have in place to secure diverse vendors?
CoB: Obviously there has been and continues to be, a noticeable shift towards sourcing goods, services and construction from Canadian-owned businesses, creating even more opportunities for certified suppliers. Building connections with professionals making buying decisions is now more important than ever. Attending networking events including reverse vendor tradeshows is a great way to start establishing and building relationships.
WC: Finally, what advice can you share with a municipality starting to track spend with women-owned businesses and introducing a procurement strategy?
CoB: Connect with other organizations that have implemented similar programs to learn what has worked and what hasn’t. This can help tailor an approach that fits your municipality’s unique context. As a WBE Corporate Member and being part of the Accelerator Program, learning from other organizations has been invaluable- particularly having the opportunity to network, hear lessons learned and understand different approaches to supplier inclusion across sectors.
Want to know more about working with the City of Brampton? On Tuesday May 26, 2026, the City is hosting it’s 5th Annual Reverse Vendor Tradeshow. Representatives of City divisions will be available to answer your questions and provide valuable insights into doing business with the City of Brampton.
Watch for details coming soon at: https://www.brampton.ca/EN/Business/Doing-Business-with-the-City/pages/vendor-information-sessions.aspx#
Need to know more about WBE Canada Corporate Membership? Contact partner@wbecanada.ca For more information on WBE Canada Certification contact certification@wbecanada.ca
