In 2003, BCT SVP was approached by a group with a vision to help improve employment in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Requesting the help of BCT SVP to conceive and implement a business model, their vision was threefold:

• to help skills training programs find work placements for trainees;
• to help DTES businesses attract enough customers to survive;
• to offer choices to consumers who wanted to support businesses choosing to add social value to their product.

The central idea conceived by the Partner team was the development of an online Social Purchasing Portal (SPP). In a nutshell, the Portal is a website where job-seekers, suppliers and purchasers can all connect to mutual benefit.

In the early days after launching the SPP, a major BCT SVP contribution was access to the Partner network. Several Partner companies, including Pivotal and Sierra Wireless, agreed to purchase services (such as catering and printing) through the SPP. That initial vote of confidence worked as a kick-start, and now, three years later, the Vancouver SPP boasts over 250 registered suppliers and purchasers. As a result, over $1 million in business activity has been directed to companies located in the DTES.

The SPP was so successful that it garnered additional government grants, and was eventually purchased by the federal government. Today, the SPP has been adopted in six cities across Canada (Vancouver, Surrey, Fraser Valley, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Calgary) and is in development in Waterloo, Trail, Edmonton, Ottawa and Victoria.

“We had been talking to companies that thought the SPP would be a good idea. But thanks to SVP, we gained access to a group of companies that already wanted to change. Before, we were trying to find a door. SVP offered open doors.”— David LePage, Past Executive Director of Fast Track to Employment