Canada’s premiers commit to scrapping trade barriers between provinces

The Canadian premiers have agreed to knock down interprovincial trade barriers.

It appears trade barriers between Canadian provinces could be coming down in an effort to help the country’s economy amid a trade war with its closest ally.

Canada’s first ministers unveiled a unified response Wednesday evening and have agreed to reduce interprovincial trade barriers with help from the federal government in hopes to strengthen Canada’s economy.

The move is in response to 25 per cent tariffs placed on all Canadian goods by United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

“At their meeting [Tuesday], the Prime Minister and Canada’s premiers agreed to build on the foundational work of the Committee on Internal Trade and strengthen Canada’s domestic economy by reducing barriers to internal trade and labour mobility across the country,” the statement reads in part.

“All First Ministers agreed that now is the time to take meaningful action to further liberalize and support the Canadian market so that goods, services, and workers can move freely.”

A number of points were agreed upon during Tuesday’s meeting of the premiers along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

First ministers agreed that certified professionals with credentials in one province should be able to work anywhere in Canada. They also directed the Committee of Internal Trade to work with the Forum of Labour Market ministers to develop a service standard of 30 days or better to get people working faster, and provide a plan for nation-wide credential recognition, while taking in specificities, like language provisions, by June 1.

In an interview Thursday with CTV Your Morning, Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand said the deal would strengthen the Canadian economy, independent of the United States.

“There are differing rules in each province and territory for labour to move and for goods to be transported across borders,” Anand says.

“What this agreement does with the provinces is say, ‘We’re breaking down those barriers to trade.’ We’re going to be able to add up to $200 billion to the Canadian economy without even going through Donald Trump. That’s the positive message from [Wednesday’s] statement.”

One area that is already seeing some movement on removing barriers is the alcohol sector. All of the provinces, except Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Prince Edward Island, have made the commitment to allow for direct-to-consumer sales for Canadian products.

“We’ll work with the other premiers and other jurisdictions to get them done,” said Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.

“Canadians want these barriers down. I want them down. We just need willing dance partners across the country.”

The provincial governments are expected to come to terms on the framework of an agreement in the weeks ahead, which will in turn lead to more Canadian alcohol sales.

Officials react

The City of Saint John, N.B., has been referred to by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce as the country’s most “tariff-exposed” city.

Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon says becoming more reliant on Canadian goods will strengthen her city’s economy and the nation overall.

“This common enemy is forcing us to work together and so I think there will be a lot of good that comes out of that,” the mayor says.

“By the same token, it won’t be easy. There will be some difficulties with it because some industries that may be protected in one province are going to lose some of that protection as we open that up for trade across the country. But if it is a $200 billion potential investment in Canada, I say how can we not.”

It’s a similar feeling for Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long.

He understands the long-time feeling the province had on “protecting their turf” but says the time has come to make a major shift as the days of “counting on America sadly, are over.”

“We’re one of the richest countries in the world for 40 million people,” says Long. “We have natural resources, we have minerals, we have oil, we have water, we have everything it takes. But as a country, we need to work together. I think it’s the first time in a long time I’ve actually seen willingness for the premiers to say, ‘You know what? We can’t be protective in our own provinces at the detriment of the country.’”

In his riding specifically, Long points to Irving, Moosehead Breweries, and Cookes Aquaculture as just some examples of big companies who would benefit from interprovincial trade options.

Food not included

One area not mentioned to see red tape removal when it comes to interprovincial trade is the food industry.

Dalhousie University Agi-Food Analytics lab director Sylvain Charlebois calls the decision “not good enough” in a post on X.

“I can understand why because you would have to deal with the fortress called supply management,” says Charlebois.

“Quotas are managed by provinces, and provinces tend to be incredibly protective of the quota system in general.”

He suspects the nations premiers didn’t want to open “that can of worms” which would make things more complicated, according to Charlebois.

For now, unless the provinces decide to change, food producers will only be able to sell within their province.

“I think most Nova Scotians would agree that if something is produced in New Brunswick, it’s good enough for Nova Scotia and vice versa,” Charlebois says. “That’s not the case right now. If you want to sell outside your province you have to be federally licenced and that costs a lot of money to actually make that conversion. Very few facilities survive that transition.”

If provincially licenced facilities were able to sell outside their province, Charlebois says market competition would increase and eventually lower food prices.

Charlebois adds barriers between provinces is costing each Canadian between $200 and $250 a year.

“That’s money you don’t see and frankly, because of inflation, that’s still a lot of money,” he says. “Right now, barriers are costing Canadians $9 billion at the grocery store.”

As far as how quickly these trade walls fall isn’t yet clear, but once they do, Houston says it will mean big opportunities for Atlantic Canada.

“We’re a province of a million people in a massive country that opens up doors for those companies across our nation,” said Houston. “And those new markets that will benefit, can benefit every Nova Scotia company.”