BUY CANADIAN: Kelowna weighs in on its role in US trade war

The City of Kelowna already spends almost all of its money on Canadian goods and services but since the trade war with the U.S. doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon it’s looking at how to spend even more within Canada’s borders.

City council looked at where it spends money considering the ongoing trade war with the U.S. at a council meeting today, May 5. 

The city spends roughly 97.5 per cent of its purchasing budget within Canada, 45 per cent of that spending stays in Kelowna, 17 per cent in the Okanagan, 21 per cent in the rest of B.C. and 14 per cent from other provinces.

A key distinction is how the city defines a Canadian supplier. To be a Canadian supplier a company just has to have a place of business in Canada. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is manufactured in Canada.

“Obviously this is a very challenging time for many across the country and in the community and one of heightened emotion broadly around that area,” the city’s general manager Joe Sass said at the meeting. 

The question comes down to the two per cent that is spent on goods from the U.S. If the city’s purchasing is $250 million a year that’s roughly $5 million being spent outside of Canada, mostly in the U.S.

There are things the city needs that it can’t get in Canada. Airport operating software, water treatment plant parts and firefighter training software don’t have Canadian alternatives, according to the report to council.

Mayor Tom Dyas said that the best way to deal with the impasse is to have a policy to prefer Canadian companies if everything else, like price and quality of service, is equal.

“There are situations where it just can’t obtain those particular items within Canada and we don’t want to slow down those initial products,” Dyas said.

Council moved to put the preference into the city’s purchasing policy rather than completely exclude buying anything American. 

In 2023, the city made 5,200 purchases and 126 went outside of the country.

Councillor Ron Cannan said the city used to just look at how low a bid is, but now it has more criteria.

“Pricing might only be 40 per cent of a job. So we have requirements, your relationship with the city, who’s this project superintendent. There’s international development, sustainability goals for diversity, equity, inclusivity, all those other components,” he said.