this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2025
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Canadian governments want you to buy local. Can they practise what they preach? (theijf.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Politicians across the country have urged Canadians to buy local amid the ongoing threat of a trade war with the United States — something many consumers are already doing.

But for governments themselves, that might be easier said than done.

An IJF analysis has found a quarter of the top 100 suppliers to the federal government in terms of total contract value are headquartered in the United States, three times more than any other foreign country.

. . .

Those 100 contractors — two of which are departments of the U.S. government itself — have been awarded more than $62.5 billion in government business since 2014, the IJF analysis found. That’s compared to about $131 billion for the 57 Canada-based companies that appear in the top 100.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This isn’t the major issue it’s being portrayed as.

Under Canada’s free trade agreements—including those with the WTO, CPTPP, and the European Union—Canada is obligated to allow foreign companies from these partner regions to compete for large government procurement contracts (typically valued at ~$230,000 CAD or more). These agreements ensure fair access without protectionist barriers and, in return, give Canadian companies access to similar opportunities in those markets.

Given this context, it's not surprising that a significant portion of federal procurement contracts go to companies headquartered in the world's largest free market economy, the United States. The fact that nearly 25% of federal government suppliers by total contract value being U.S.-based is not unexpected under these trade arrangements.