QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Buy Canadian
June 10, 2025
Senator Gold, we learned yesterday that Aliments du Québec and Les Produits du Québec have joined forces to launch the first edition of a special day to showcase products from Quebec.
Two days from now, on June 12, Quebecers will be invited to buy a local product to encourage Quebec producers, manufacturers, farmers and artisans.
This is an excellent initiative that will enable us to discover new local products and promote them.
Will the Canadian government take inspiration from the Quebec model and launch a similar nation-wide campaign? What concrete action has the government taken to promote our local products, support our SMEs in marketing their projects and help them increase their sales?
Thank you for the question and for highlighting this initiative, which encourages all of us to adopt consumption habits that support our local economy.
The government encourages consumers to support local businesses, whether big or small. Initiatives in that regard include the creation of resources and databases to make it easier for Canadians to prioritize buying local.
Many of the campaigns and resources from the 2022 Shop Local initiative are still available, including a non-exhaustive list of online resources produced as part of this program. I encourage everyone to consult these resources.
Yesterday, an article in La Presse reported that Minister Champagne made reference to an upcoming federal buy Canadian policy.
The minister said, “We are not only going to talk about it, we are going to do it.”
Senator Gold, when will we see such a legislative initiative? What does the federal government plan to do to promote Canadian businesses in public contracts?
I note that Canada’s Minister of Finance, Mr. Champagne, referred to prioritizing Canadian procurement in public contracts. Beyond the directive on the management of procurement, I’m not able to speak to other legislative initiatives on the matter. We will be updated when such measures are presented in due course.
