Canadian Crown corporations and social procurement: Trade commitments and institutional bricolage

Abstract

Globalization has introduced insecurities to individuals and businesses. Countries are pressed to respond to these insecurities with more inclusive visions of globalization. One policy response is social procurement—public purchasing geared to create social value. Canada is embracing this response but faces barriers of its own making. Through the institutional bricolage of procurement trade rules, Canada has constrained its capacity to use social procurement. This is acutely felt by Crown corporations, which are increasingly under the scope of trade treaties. This article details this phenomenon through textual analysis of Canadian procurement trade rules and state enterprise attempts at social procurement.