This blog post is the first part of a two-part series reflecting on the implementation of the City of Vancouver’s Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Policy throughout the full construction phase of the New St. Paul’s Hospital (NSPH) project.

Part I recaps the significance of NSPH as the first construction project in Vancouver to trigger the CBA Policy in 2021 and presents the project’s final data from all five years of CBA reporting.

Buy Social Canada was grateful to work on NSPH with Providence Health Care (PHC), PCL Construction, and the major subtrades on the project as Independent Third Party Monitor for the past five years. As Independent Third Party Monitor, Buy Social Canada supported the implementation of the CBA through measurement, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and supply and demand matching for goods, services, and labour in order to help the project team demonstrate best efforts to achieve the three CBA targets. Learn about our CBA Liaison services here.

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Large-scale development projects influence our communities beyond the physical structures they build. In 2018, the City of Vancouver passed a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Policy, the first policy of its kind passed by a municipality in Canada. The goal of the CBA Policy was to leverage dollars spent and jobs created on major construction projects to deliver long-lasting value to the community, strengthen local businesses, increase social value in the supply chains of major projects, and support a diverse workforce in Vancouver.

Communities across Canada turned their attention to Vancouver in 2021, when Providence Health Care’s New St. Paul’s Hospital (NSPH) broke ground as the first project to trigger the CBA Policy. On an 18.4 acre site and with a budget of $2.18 billion, NSPH was one of the largest hospital redevelopment projects in BC’s history and was identified to have significant potential to contribute benefits to the Vancouver community through CBA implementation.

After over five years of construction, July 31, 2026, marked the final day of NSPH’s construction phase. This date is set by the City of Vancouver as the final day of NSPH’s construction phase. However, July 31st is not necessarily the final day of active construction on the site as work scopes are still being completed. Regardless, NSPH is the largest Vancouver project to date to have implemented the CBA from beginning to end of its construction phase under the Policy.

This blog post is part one of two sharing the final update on NSPH’s progress to implement the CBA, and presents the project’s final data from February 1, 2021 to July 31, 2026.

Community Benefits on New St. Paul’s Hospital

CBAs are a catalyst to create demand for social value suppliers and a diverse workforce. They work to create demand, change culture and processes, and build new relationships between the construction sector and local organizations and community members.

Over the five years of NSPH’s construction phase, Buy Social Canada worked as the project’s Independent Third Party Monitor, supporting the implementation of the CBA through measurement, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and supply and demand matching for goods, services, and labour.

NSPH’s Community Benefit Targets

NSPH’s project team worked to demonstrate best efforts to achieve the following CBA targets:

• Local, inclusive employment: Make 10% of new jobs on the development available to people in Vancouver first, specifically those who are equity-denied (referred to in the policy as First Source Hiring).
• Social procurement: Source a minimum of 10% of material goods and services from third party certified social impact or diverse or equity-denied owned businesses, with a priority on Vancouver businesses.
• Local procurement: Attain 10% of materials, goods, and services from Vancouver companies or companies located in Metro Vancouver or British Columbia. These may or may not also be equity-denied third party certified businesses.

What Was Considered “Local?”

The local procurement and employment targets use the word “local” to prioritize hiring and procurement from the areas most local to the project. “Local” was defined by the City of Vancouver to refer to Vancouver’s “City Core,” which included a set of postal codes provided by the City.  

Best Efforts to Achieve the Targets: Final Data

At the end of the construction phase, NSPH exceeded the local procurement target, with 11.6% of the total project spend going to organizations located in the City Core.

NSPH did not meet the social procurement target nor the employment target. The construction phase ended with 4.5% social procurement and 8.9% local and inclusive hiring.

NSPH’s final progress on implementing the CBA includes data from the beginning of the construction phase in February 2021 to the end date on July 31, 2026. The data includes reporting from project owner Providence Health Care, design-builder PCL Construction, and all major subtrades whose contracts exceeded $500,000.

11.6% local procurement

NSPH’s local procurement spend has consistently stayed above the 10% target since the beginning of the project. This represents approximately $279 million of project dollars spent within Vancouver’s City Core, which in turn have supported local employment and circulated revenues within the community.

Throughout the course of the project, the project team voiced some challenges with purchasing from the most local postal codes. Some have observed construction-related suppliers being pushed out of the City Core due to high rents and infrastructure costs. Others noted that development plans in Vancouver lack industrial space in the City Core, leading to a limited number of construction-related suppliers there.

Despite this, NSPH brought on some local social enterprise suppliers who are addressing challenges in the city’s Downtown Eastside. Approximately $5.3 million of NSPH project spend went directly to Downtown Eastside-based Certified Social Enterprises. This dollar amount adds up to a small percentage of the project total, but a significant impact on the ground. The project spend with these local social enterprises was captured in both the local and the social procurement CBA targets.

Social enterprises deliver value in the form of community development, employment and skills training, and wages to employees facing barriers to traditional employment, among others.[1] Because of this, NSPH project spend on Downtown Eastside-based social enterprises is likely to multiply on the local level in metrics beyond dollar values and provide real positive impact on the lives of Vancouver community members.

The percentage of procurement from the Metro Vancouver communities continued to be strong throughout the lifetime of the project. This could be for a variety of reasons, including:

1. Increased operating affordability for construction-related companies in these regions
2. A greater number of construction-related companies exists due to the larger amount of industrial space and larger catchment area
3. The goods procured from the construction-related companies in Metro Vancouver tend to be contracts that cost a greater percentage of the total project spend, for example mechanical, electric, excavation, and other major work scope subcontracts, and materials such as concrete and steel

The Canadian economy continues to navigate an uncertain terrain of climate crises, tariffs, and other challenges for local supply chains. In the effort to buy Canadian and buy local, NSPH local procurement data shows the impact of leveraging large construction projects to prioritize supporting local within existing budgets.

8.9% local, inclusive hiring

Employees who were newly hired to work on NSPH by PCL, PHC, and the major subtrades have filled a variety of roles throughout the project. These included hourly and salaried positions, union placements, general labourers, skilled trades, install crew, apprentices, and students.

At the end of the project, approximately 35% of all new hires on NSPH voluntarily self-identified as belonging to an equity-denied group. 8.9% of the total new hires who self-identified as being part of equity-denied groups also live in City Core postal codes.

The remaining percentage of new hires either live outside the City Core but within BC, outside of BC, or preferred not to disclose their location for the project’s CBA data.

In Vancouver there is an ongoing affordability challenge associated with living in the City Core. According to 2021 Census data and WorkBC’s Cost of Living Calculator, individuals deemed as “visible minorities” with an average employment income spend a significant percentage of their income on housing and transportation. Assuming minimal commuting distance, these individuals living in Downtown Vancouver spend 77% of their income on housing and transportation. This percentage drops down marginally to 75% if they live elsewhere in Vancouver. By comparison, the same individuals living in Surrey spend 66% of their income on housing and transportation.

Additionally, most of the major subtrades on NSPH are located in Metro Vancouver regions. This gives an additional possible reason for new hires to be hired closer to where their employer is based, rather than in the City Core.

4.5% social procurement

NSPH did not meet the social procurement target before the completion of the construction phase. The specialized procurement needs during the final stage of constructing the hospital, from the state-of-the-art imaging machines to the make of the flooring, are subject to specific standards for hospitals. Additionally, install services for these are highly specialized. Both of these factors contribute to the limited suppliers available to deliver on these large procurement needs.

Most of the social procurement spends reported on NSPH were low dollar value purchases. Although some members of the construction team did report on all low dollar value purchases, the nature of how these purchases are often made (e.g. with company credit cards) made it difficult to consistently track them across the entire construction team. It is probable that individual spends by on-site crews for items such as lunches and coffees may not have been captured in the CBA reporting but could qualify as social and/or local purchases.

The data shows that there is room to grow to create greater awareness of the social enterprise sector and the goods and services they provide for the construction industry. CBAs are a catalyst to create demand for social enterprises and other social value suppliers, so with more awareness and implementation, subcontracts like general labour, site cleaning, junk removal, and other high-opportunity work scopes for social procurement could grow beyond what was delivered on NSPH.

A caveat on measured procurement activity

The definition of “procurement activity” determines which costs are measured against the CBA targets and which are not. This definition was clarified at the end of year one of NSPH’s construction phase when PCL included the permitting cost for NSPH, a cost that is not open to the market and is paid to the City of Vancouver, in their CBA reporting.

The City of Vancouver clarified the definition of “procurement activity” for the purposes of the CBA as being goods, services, and materials purchased “in the competitive market.” As a result, spend on permits with the City of Vancouver were not considered “procurement activity.”

Recognizing that NSPH was the first project to implement the CBA, and that permitting spend with the City of Vancouver had been reported on prior to this clarification, the City allowed the first year of City permitting reporting to remain “frozen,” which represented approximately $55 million.

The quantitative data included in this blog post includes the approximate $55 million of permitting costs from PCL as social and local procurement. This impacts the data significantly.

If the permitting costs were removed to align with the current definition of “procurement activity,” NSPH’s progress on the CBA targets would be at 9.5% local procurement, representing $223 million; and 2.3% social procurement, representing $53.3 million.

The definition of “procurement activity” selected by the City of Vancouver reflects the intent of the CBA: to encourage projects to choose to procure from social value suppliers and locally owned businesses, and for the City to work with the project team on policy implementation.

Project spend with social enterprises

NSPH’s CBA measured social procurement as project spend on diverse-owned businesses (either self-identified or certified by a third-party), certified social impact businesses (such as a certified B-Corp), and non-profits or Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprises.

Social enterprises were present on the NSPH site since 2021 and continued to work until the end. Some contracts with social enterprises started with a single contract and expanded into new work scopes and with more contractors as the project progressed.

Examples of spend with social enterprises and the impact they have made for the community through working on NSPH include:

EMBERS Staffing

EMBERS Staffing is a Buy Social Canada Certified Social Enterprise and socially responsible employment service agency that facilitates temporary-to-permanent job placement for people facing barriers to employment. EMBERS Staffing has provided day labour and staffing solutions for PCL and some major subtrades on NSPH since 2022.

EMBERS Staffing consistently provides real on-the-ground impact for individuals impacted by barriers to traditional employment opportunities. Paul and Nancy’s stories are excellent examples of EMBERS’ impact on NSPH over the past year:

Paul

After speaking with an occupational therapist about past jobs, Paul realized that general labour had been one of the few roles where he felt fulfilled. As someone in recovery, Paul had gaps in his resume and a lack of recent experience, making it difficult to gain traction despite his determination to return to the construction industry.

Paul then discovered EMBERS’ Skilling Up Building Up program, which provided construction safety training, first aid, traffic control, resume workshops, mock interviews, and hands-on experience. The program gave Paul recent, relevant experience that employers recognize, as well as a renewed sense of hope to apply for work.

When EMBERS connected Paul to PCL through their existing partnership through NSPH, Paul completed a three-week work placement on site, which ultimately evolved into continued employment on NSPH. Currently, Paul performs material handling and site support work while working toward his long-term goal of becoming a hoist operator.

Nancy

Growing up in Rwanda, Nancy says construction was not considered a career path for women. However, after her move to Canada, a friend already connected with EMBERS encouraged her to participate in the social enterprise’s training and employment programs to pursue skills in the construction industry.

Nancy began her work on the NSPH site with an EMBERS construction cleaning crew, gaining experience and exploring different pathways within the construction sector. She eventually formed an interest in hoist and elevator operations and was further supported by EMBERS’ certification programs.

Currently, Nancy continues to work in the construction industry, building her qualifications so that she can work toward additional training as an elevator technician in the future.

Both Paul and Nancy demonstrate the real-life impact of social procurement for people facing barriers to employment. By creating accessible pathways to help workers overcome obstacles and build meaningful careers, projects like NSPH with targets for social procurement and inclusive hiring can create long-lasting opportunities for populations who need them most while providing the construction industry with highly motivated individuals to help address the workforce shortages the industry anticipates.

CleanStart Property Services

CleanStart Property Services is a local Certified Social Enterprise that employs people facing barriers to employment and has been providing property and cleaning services to PCL consistently since November 2021. Since then, they have expanded their work to include contracts with several major subtrades, including A&H Steel, Covertite, Plan Group, and Modern Niagara.

While CleanStart services are primarily janitorial and sanitation services on site, CleanStart became a registered vendor for PCL throughout their years on NSPH to provide hazardous waste removal services. This shows significant capacity and relationship building between the social enterprise and PCL over the duration of the project that brings measurable impact to CleanStart employees.

The relationships built between social enterprises and the construction team on this project demonstrate how the CBA, both as a policy and a practice, effectively advances social procurement awareness and integration among a construction project team. Because of this effort to build long-lasting relationships, partnerships with social value suppliers have potential to carry over into future construction projects.

Conclusion

As the first project to trigger the CBA, there was expectation that NSPH would create large-scale opportunity for the community. In some ways, it certainly did. This is evidenced by the key relationships, awareness and understanding of the CBA, and best efforts to achieve the targets that have carried over from NSPH to inform future CBA projects in Vancouver such as the Clinical Support and Research Centre (CSRC), located on the same site as NSPH.

NSPH was not only the first project to trigger a mandatory application of the City’s CBA policy, but it was a particularly unique and complex project with highly specialized work scopes. While the CBA drives demand for social value suppliers, local procurement, and inclusive hiring, capacity and culture shifts need time and practice to build.

While early projects like NSPH may struggle to meet some of the targets, the project team was consistently willing to adapt alongside the City of Vancouver to learn how the CBA can be a useful tool for real projects. Because of CBA implementation on NSPH, changes to the CBA Policy came into effect to increase efficiency, adapt to the realities of the construction sector, and reduce administrative burden.

In Part II of this series, Buy Social Canada will highlight how Vancouver’s CBA Policy changed throughout the five years of implementing the CBA on NSPH. Part II will identify how the CBA NSPH informed those changes, and what communities across Canada can learn when looking to leverage construction projects for community benefits in the future.

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[1] From the Built for Impact, Ready for Market: Canadian Social Enterprise Sector Survey Report by Buy Social Canada, funded by Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada