‘Buy Canadian’ policy to be simplified for small businesses, minister says

The federal government says it’s simplifying the current ‘Buy Canadian’ procurement process to make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to be competitive and get new projects to market faster.

To do this, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound said the government will streamline the process of filing paperwork and navigating government systems.

“You can be qualified, you can be ready, you can be competitive, and so you can get left out because the system is too complicated, too inconsistent and too burdensome to navigate,” Lightbound said, speaking Monday in Toronto.

“This is about changing the default, making it easier for small businesses to actually show up, compete and win.”

The Buy Canadian policy was launched in December 2025 as a way to help create stronger and more efficient domestic supply chains that boost the economy while also supporting local businesses and industries amid the trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies last year.

Since tariffs have been biting into Canada’s economy, businesses have been working to pivot away from the U.S. as a main trading partner. Ottawa and provincial governments have also been working to improve domestic supply chains, including easing interprovincial trade barriers, to support the economy.

Lightbound outlined three ways the government plans to make it easier for these small and medium-sized businesses to access these federal procurement benefits.

First, Lightbound said the Small Business Procurement Program will have its requirements made more “clear, proportional and focused.”

Second, the user experience online will be made simpler to navigate, and make use of digital tools like chatbots. These tools, Lightbound said, will help applicants who are “stuck interpreting government language.”

Third, the government says it will standardize all procurement documents to avoid confusion for business owners.

“We have to be honest about what stands in their way. It’s not just markets or competition. It is complexity. It is paperwork. It is systems that feel like they were designed for government and not for the people trying to work with it. And that has to change,” Lightbound said Monday.

“Government should not feel like a maze you have to get through. It should feel and be a partner that helps you move faster, not slower.”

Lightbound also announced that Ottawa plans to spend up to $80 million over the next five years to boost Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC).

ISC awards contracts to entrepreneurs who may have otherwise found it difficult to get a project beyond an initial concept, proposal or pilot and empowers innovators by funding research and development and testing prototypes in real-life settings.

This also comes a few weeks after the federal government lowered the minimum threshold for the Buy Canadian procurement policy from $25 million to $5 million, which Lightbound said was done to open the doors to smaller and medium-sized business.

“The biggest barrier for many innovators is not the quality of their idea, it’s getting that first chance to prove it. And this program, ISC, fixes that,” Lightbound said.