Canada’s federal procurement landscape is changing. In July 2026, the Government of Canada introduced a new Small Business Procurement Program designed to reduce some of the barriers smaller Canadian businesses face when competing for federal contracts. Requirements are expected to become more proportionate to the size of opportunities, procurement documents more standardized, and digital tools easier for suppliers to navigate.
At the same time, another procurement commitment remains firmly in place: federal departments and agencies are required to award a minimum of 5% of the total value of their contracts to Indigenous businesses.
These policies are important. But they raise a bigger question.
What happens after the procurement target is established?
If Indigenous procurement is going to contribute meaningfully to economic reconciliation, success cannot ultimately be measured by a percentage alone. It should also be measured by whether procurement creates Indigenous businesses capable of competing for increasingly sophisticated contracts, developing skilled workforces, forming technology partnerships and eventually competing at enterprise scale.
That distinction is particularly important in technology.
Canada Is Trying to Change Who Gets Access to Procurement
The Government of Canada’s mandatory minimum 5% Indigenous procurement target was introduced to increase economic opportunities for First Nations, Inuit and Métis businesses through federal contracting.
There are signs of increasing participation.
Public Services and Procurement Canada’s 2026–27 Departmental Plan reports that Indigenous supplier participation in PSPC procurement processes increased from 7% in 2022–23 to 10% in 2023–24 and 16% in 2024–25. The department’s target for March 2027 is at least 11%.
Yet participation and procurement value are not the same thing. Government briefing material published in 2026 shows that PSPC awarded $143 million, or 3.4% of its total procurement value, to Indigenous businesses in 2023–24.
That gap matters. It demonstrates why increasing the number of Indigenous companies participating in procurement is only one part of the challenge. The next question is whether those businesses are positioned to win, deliver and expand into larger and higher-value opportunities.
Technology Makes the Capacity Question Harder
The supplier may need expertise across cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, data protection, networking, AI, storage and professional services. It may need vendor certifications, experienced technical personnel, national delivery capabilities, financing, security clearances and the ability to support complex environments after deployment. Those capabilities take years to develop.
For an established technology integrator, they may already exist. For a smaller Indigenous technology company attempting to enter enterprise and government markets, the barriers can be considerably higher.
Procurement reform therefore needs to address two related problems.
1. Access creates the opportunity to compete.
2. Capacity creates the ability to win and deliver.
Without the second, procurement targets risk becoming transactional rather than transformational.
The Procurement Conversation Is Already Moving in This Direction
Canada’s current procurement strategy provides some evidence that policymakers recognize this distinction.
PSPC’s 2026–27 plans specifically identify measures such as Indigenous Participation Plans, Limited to Indigenous Offers and the unbundling of procurement opportunities as mechanisms for increasing Indigenous participation and building supplier capacity.
The government’s broader procurement reforms are moving in a similar direction.
Under the Small Business Procurement Program introduced in July, federal buyers are being asked to design procurement requirements with small businesses in mind. Standardized documents and simplified processes are intended to reduce the time, complexity and cost involved in bidding.
By the end of 2026, additional measures are expected, including plain-language tender summaries, reusable supplier documentation, structured response formats and pre-submission completeness checks.
Reducing administrative friction matters.
But in enterprise technology, making an RFP easier to navigate does not automatically give a supplier the technical capacity required to deliver the contract.
That requires another layer of investment.
From Supplier Diversity to Supplier Development
A more ambitious model of Indigenous procurement would therefore connect procurement opportunities with supplier development.
Imagine the difference between two approaches.
In the first, an organization identifies an Indigenous supplier because it has a procurement target to achieve. A contract is awarded; the requirement is fulfilled and the transaction ends.
In the second, procurement becomes part of a longer economic chain.
An Indigenous-owned technology company gains access to enterprise opportunities. Established technology partners help expand its technical and delivery capabilities. Indigenous professionals receive industry-recognized technical training. Those professionals become part of the workforce delivering increasingly sophisticated projects. Revenue, expertise and employment capacity accumulate within Indigenous businesses and communities.
The second model does more than redistribute procurement expenditure.
It helps build an ecosystem capable of capturing future expenditure independently.
That is where procurement can become a mechanism for long-term economic participation rather than simply an annual compliance exercise.
Why Open Storage Solutions Is Supporting This Model
This thinking is also behind Open Storage Solutions’ partnership with Indigenous-owned technology company Ariginal Technologies Group, Tsunati and Veeam.
Through the Indigenous Business Initiative (IBI) and the Indigenous People Project (IPP) we are encouraging government and corporate organizations to make measurable commitments to Indigenous technology procurement, including allocating IT expenditure to Indigenous suppliers, including Indigenous businesses in RFP processes and creating mentorship and subcontracting opportunities.
Open Storage Solutions supports Ariginal, Tsunati and Veeam with enterprise-level technology delivery and augmented technical capabilities, helping address some of the scale and capability barriers that can make it difficult for emerging Indigenous technology companies to compete against long-established providers. The objective is to help build the experience, technical capability and market credibility that allow Indigenous-owned technology businesses to compete at increasingly higher levels.
Procurement Alone Cannot Build an Industry Without People
Enterprise technology depends on specialized skills, and demand continues to evolve across cybersecurity, data resilience, cloud infrastructure and AI. Creating more opportunities for Indigenous technology businesses therefore also creates a parallel requirement for more Indigenous technology professionals.
This is where the Indigenous People Project (IPP) extends the model beyond procurement.
Launched in May 2026 by Ariginal Technologies Group, Veeam and Tsunati, IPP is designed to provide Indigenous and Aboriginal communities with technical education, industry certifications and pathways into technology employment.
The program begins with training in areas including data protection and cybersecurity, including access to Veeam Certified Engineer certification.
The Next Measure of Indigenous Procurement Should Be What It Creates
Canada’s 5% Indigenous procurement target remains an important mechanism for directing economic opportunity toward Indigenous businesses. But percentages tell us where money was spent. They do not necessarily tell us what that spending created.
Over the coming years, the more meaningful questions may be different.
Did Indigenous suppliers move into higher-value contracts?
Did smaller firms develop the capabilities required to become enterprise suppliers?
Did procurement generate apprenticeships, certifications and technical careers?
Did Indigenous-owned companies build intellectual property, recurring revenue and partnerships?
And, ultimately, did those businesses become strong enough to compete without needing procurement targets to open every door?
That is a much higher standard for economic reconciliation.
It is also a much more consequential one.
For Open Storage Solutions, supporting Indigenous procurement is therefore not simply about helping organizations satisfy a procurement requirement. Through its partnership with Ariginal Technologies Group, and its support for initiatives including IBI and IPP, Open Storage Solutions is working toward something more durable: expanding the technology capacity available within Indigenous businesses and creating pathways for Indigenous professionals to participate in the industries shaping Canada’s digital economy.
The 5% target can open the door. The real opportunity is building the businesses and people who can keep walking through it.
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