Measuring the Benefits of Green Public Procurement in Canada

This report uses a system dynamics model to quantify the economic, social, and environmental impacts of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in Canada from 2016 to 2035. It analyzes four spending categories—buildings, cement, steel, and vehicles—comparing business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios against sustainable and domestic-production scenarios. The findings generally indicate that GPP reduces long-term operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions while potentially increasing domestic employment and revenue.

• Implementing a sustainable procurement strategy for public buildings leads to lower total costs and emissions by 2035. Specifically, total costs for the building stock are 3 per cent lower and emissions from operations are 7 per cent lower in the sustainable scenario compared to the BAU scenario, driven by a 6 per cent decline in energy consumption.
• For cement and steel, a 'sustainable plus domestic' (S+D) scenario generates the highest levels of revenue and employment. By 2035, the S+D scenario for cement results in revenues and employment that are 2 per cent higher than other scenarios, while for steel, revenues and employment are 20 per cent higher than other scenarios due to the replacement of imports.
• The sustainable plus domestic scenario is the most effective at reducing total greenhouse gas emissions. By 2035, this scenario produces 4,679,798 million tonnes fewer GHG emissions than the BAU scenario, resulting in social cost of carbon (SCC) savings of CAD 278 million per year.
• Transitioning the public vehicle fleet to hybrid and electric models significantly reduces both fiscal costs and emissions. By 2035, total costs in the light and dark green scenarios are 32 per cent lower than in the BAU scenario, primarily due to reduced fuel expenditures.
• Across all analyzed categories, GPP provides substantial savings in operating costs. By 2035, both the sustainable and sustainable plus domestic scenarios for buildings and vehicles save nearly CAD 2 billion per year in operating costs compared to the BAU scenario.

APA

Bassi, A. M., & McDougal, K. (2019). Measuring the Benefits of Green Public Procurement in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/measuring-benefits-gpp-canada.pdf

Chicago

Bassi, Andrea M., and Kieran McDougal. Measuring the Benefits of Green Public Procurement in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/measuring-benefits-gpp-canada.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bassi |first1=Andrea M. |last2=McDougal |first2=Kieran |title=Measuring the Benefits of Green Public Procurement in Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=April 2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/measuring-benefits-gpp-canada.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bassi2019measuring, author = {Bassi, Andrea M. and McDougal, Kieran}, title = {{Measuring the Benefits of Green Public Procurement in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/measuring-benefits-gpp-canada.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }