Social enterprises need customers and purchasers of social enterprise products and services need to be recognized.

Buy Social Canada is an internationally recognized certification that promotes social purchasing and social procurement and Social Delta encourages both social enterprises and responsible purchasers to consider becoming certified.

Certification includes a third party, independent assessment  ensuring that social enterprise vendors are indeed generating social value through the sales of their goods and/or services.  The certification for purchasers ensures that procurement processes and policies are in place to allow social enterprises access to contracts and procurement bids.  Certification does not guarantee sales to vendors, nor does it force purchasers to buy substandard products; certification simply ensures that products and services that create improvements in our communities are made available to those who wish to support positive  social change through their everyday purchasing decisions.

Buy Social Canada launched in 2014, and offers vendors an affordable way to prove to their customers and potential customers that they are addressing a social mission.   Similarly,  companies, governments, NGO’s and other large purchasers can demonstrate their commitment to building strong, resilient and thriving  communities by becoming a certified BUY SOCIAL purchaser.

Certification is done by affiliates across the country, each of whom also can provide support to vendors to help them build capacity in the marketplace, and to purchasers to identify local vendors.

If you are interested in becoming certified as either a vendor or a purchaser,  visit www.buysocialcanada.ca to complete the simple online form, and you will then be contacted by an associate in your area promptly with further instructions and information.