Local and responsible procurement: promoting homegrown expertise

Adopting sustainable development involves reducing the environmental footprint not only of the goods and services we sell, but also of what we purchase. This is why Énergir promotes local and responsible procurement, for the benefit of the entire population.

For several years now, Énergir has based its business decisions on sustainable development. As such, we make an effort to help our customers reduce their environmental footprint with high-efficiency solutions and forms of renewable energy such as biomethane, solar and wind power.

The same goes for our suppliers. Our calls for tender now include criteria that promote local, responsible procurement, in terms of sustainable development as well as ethics and fair and equitable relations.

A joint commitment

These criteria are applied not only to our supplier evaluation grid for the selection process, but also throughout the supplier’s mandate in the form of a code of conduct to which they all agree to adhere.

For example, in Rouyn-Noranda, for our landscape maintenance we chose a social economy enterprise, Projet Jeunesse St-Michel, which supports the integration of youths aged 12 to 17 into the workplace. In Montréal, we joined the “L’économie sociale, j’achète!” initiative set up by CESIM, which promotes the purchase of goods and services from the social economy.

Across Québec, of our 20 key suppliers, 12 are local. Among them, the most illuminating instance of local and responsible procurement is without a doubt that of Versaprofiles, because it touches the very core of our operations.

Versaprofiles: an inspiring example

A manufacturer of natural gas pipes based in Saint-Lazare-de-Bellechasse, Versaprofiles was not only involved in the gas network extension in its region, but it has also been our main supplier, since 2016, of polyethylene pipes—essential to the distribution of natural gas.

Rather than purchasing these pipes in Western Canada, which is home to numerous manufacturers, Énergir chose a local and responsible supplier, with positive spin-offs for the population. This greatly simplified the supply chain, saving at least 238,000 kilometres in pipeline-delivery transportation annually, i.e. the equivalent of 198 tonnes of greenhouse gas, with 80% cost reductions and a decrease in supply chain waste.

As evidenced by Versaprofiles, local and responsible procurement allows Énergir to reduce its environmental footprint and its costs while benefiting the population by generating business opportunities and enabling more customers to enjoy the advantages of natural gas.

Watch this video from Versaprofiles to learn more about the manufacture of natural gas pipes.