Gillingham Proposes Three-Point Plan to Make City Spending Work Harder for Winnipeg
Winnipeg spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year buying goods and services, and Scott Gillingham is proposing new steps to use more of that purchasing power to strengthen the local economy as Canada confronts President Donald Trump’s trade aggression.
“Our procurement system is designed to get taxpayers good value through competition, and that principle shouldn’t change,” Gillingham said. “But within Canada’s trade rules, we should also be doing everything we can to give local, taxpaying businesses a fair shot and get more economic benefit for Winnipeg from the money the City spends.”
As Mayor, Gillingham has supported stronger rules to ensure large international platform companies such as Airbnb and Uber compete on a level playing field with local businesses.
If re-elected on October 28, Gillingham is committing to three additional steps:
Proactive Pre-Qualification. Building on the City’s Sustainable Procurement program, Gillingham will dedicate resources to developing a permanent list of pre-qualified bidders, helping more local businesses qualify, and ensuring they receive notice of relevant bid opportunities.
Strengthen Local Economic Benefits in City Procurement. Winnipeg’s new Sustainable Procurement framework already considers community benefits in City contracts. Gillingham will ask Council to build on that approach by giving greater weight, wherever legally permitted, to local economic benefits — including Winnipeg jobs, training and investment — when determining the best overall value for taxpayers.
Clarify National Rules for Foreign-Owned Subsidiaries. In 2025, 99.5 per cent of City of Winnipeg purchases went to companies operating in Canada, but that figure can include Canadian subsidiaries of foreign corporations. As Vice-Chair of FCM’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus, Gillingham will bring forward a resolution seeking clear national guidance on how municipalities should account for foreign ownership when applying Buy Canadian procurement policies.
“The Prime Minister has the right idea when he talks about doing more with what we can control,” Gillingham said. “Winnipeg can’t set tariffs or rewrite international trade agreements, but we can make sure our own procurement system is working as hard as possible for Winnipeg businesses, Winnipeg workers and Winnipeg taxpayers.”
Municipal procurement is governed by provincial, Canadian, and international trade agreements, which limit how far the City can go in favouring local suppliers. Gillingham said Winnipeg should make maximum use of the flexibility available within those rules while pressing other governments for clearer tools to support Canadian businesses.