Business owners in Windsor-Essex are being encouraged to position themselves to secure government contracts under the federal government’s Buy Canadian policy.
Liberal Senator Sandra Pupatello, the former MPP for Windsor West, will be hosting a special information session this month focused on unlocking opportunities through the policy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The session is designed to give business leaders, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and suppliers insights into how the federal procurement strategy prioritizes Canadian suppliers, Canadian-made materials, and domestic production.
The Buy Canadian policy applies to the government’s new major projects and housing offices, defence procurement, and community infrastructure projects funded by the federal government. It requires that contracts valued at $25 million or more prioritize Canadian businesses and materials.
The policy also requires that Canadian steel, aluminium, and wood products manufactured or processed in Canada be used in construction and defence projects.
Pupatello told AM800’s The Shift with Patty Handysides that this region is the most affected by the U.S. trade war and everything happening to the auto sector.
“It’s really the ideal place to come in and say, ‘How can our businesses have new opportunities?’ Government procurement is absolutely one of them. All the governments combined spend $300 billion in a year on procurement. There’s no reason some of our companies couldn’t have a piece of it,” she says.
Opportunities in key sectors that will be highlighted during the information session include infrastructure and construction, defence and security, manufacturing, transportation, information and communications technology, health and pharmaceuticals, professional and technical services, and producers of Canadian industrial materials.
Pupatello says this is the type of session where local companies can look to see where they fit in.
“So, for example, when the Buy Canadian policy says that this big guy already has a big contract, it means all his suppliers have to look at Canadian companies first,” she says. “You might not be that great big company going after a huge procurement contract, but you could be that company’s supplier.”
Pupatello says local companies need to sign up to the Supplier Registration Information (SRI) system because there are real opportunities for the region.
“When a procurement contract is let out by the government, you’re automatically going to get a notice about it when you’ve registered to deliver a certain type of service,” she says. “That’s A, how you get information, and B, they can see that it’s not just the contract; it’s the big companies out there that might need additional companies in their supply chain.”
The event is scheduled for Thursday, May 21 from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. at the Ciociaro Club in Tecumseh.
Businesses interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP by May 15, 2026. RSVP: Sandra.Pupatello@sen.parl.gc.ca
The sessions are being held in partnership with local Chambers of Commerce, Windsor, Essex, Sarnia, Chatham, WEtech Alliance, and the Windsor Construction Association and the Heavy Construction Association.