Despite the fact that Canada is a relatively young country, it is a prominent member of G7—”The Group of Seven” of the largest advanced economies in the world. Since gaining complete sovereignty from Great Britain in 1982, Canada has been able to sustain a steady economic growth trajectory largely due to its thriving businesses and large volume of national exports.

In recent decades, countries around the world have begun to embrace supplier diversity initiatives as a means of enabling underrepresented populations to compete and thrive in business. In addition to empowering women- and minority-owned businesses, supplier diversity initiatives also have significant payoffs for the companies that enact them. For starters, they encourage innovation and increase competition between suppliers, ensuring that contractors receive the best value at the best possible price. Supplier diversity programs have also been shown to give their creators a competitive advantage in minority-dominated markets and boost overall brand loyalty and perception—all things that impact a company’s bottom line.

An essential element for your supplier diversity program is a policy outlining what the program is, who it includes, what the program goals are, and how you will achieve those goals. This policy provides internal guidance for your supplier diversity team, encourages buy-in from stakeholders, builds public awareness of your program, and establishes expectations for suppliers.

We rely on data to make hundreds of business decisions every day, ranging from the seemingly inconsequential to the potentially monumental. The sum of these decisions can be the difference between success and failure. But too often we are working with incomplete, inconsistent, or even incorrect data from which few, if any, actionable insights can be discovered. Our shareholders rely on us to make the best possible decisions. We need accurate, up-to-date information to select the best choice and bring the most value.

Corporate America is increasingly recognizing the value of diverse suppliers, from the way they help drive innovation and competitiveness to their powerful impact on the economy and customer approval.