Ontario and Manitoba sign understanding on tearing down trade barriers

Premiers Doug Ford and Wab Kinew announce details of a new interprovincial trade deal.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to reduce provincial trade barriers amid a trade war with the United States that continues to threaten Canada’s economy.

“As neighbors and partners within Canada, Ontario and Manitoba can lead the way by creating new opportunities for goods, services and workers to move freely between our provinces, and that’s what today’s agreement will do,” Ford said at the signing at Queen’s Park.

Ford said the effort to lower trade barriers between the provinces will help “unlock the enormous potential of true free trade within Canada.”

The government said the two provinces are agreeing to boost the flow of goods, services, investment and workers, including direct-to-consumer sales of alcohol and improved interprovincial labour mobility.

In a release, the government noted that interprovincial trade between Ontario and Manitoba was valued at $19.5 billion in 2021.

Speaking alongside him, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew echoed Ford’s comments.

“We know that our country has been threatened, and it’s been inspiring to see Canadians respond to these risks presented to our economy by saying, you know what, we want to take advantage of this opportunity and build Canada up to be even stronger, to have even more jobs, to have even more money being put into the wallets and the bank accounts of people right across this great land,” Kinew said.

“So I think we’ve got a real window right now to do the big nation building projects that have just been ideas for the past number of years.”

Kinew said that taking down barriers is possible because of the trust that exists between the provinces, and that the premiers are “serious” about proceeding with nation-building projects in the face of the trade threats.

“We trust that somebody who gets a red seal in Ontario, somebody who gets a professional designation in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, we trust that they’re going to be able to do a great job if they come to Manitoba,” he said. “You can trust us as well too, that when we send our tradespeople, we send our engineers, we send our best to go work on a project here in Ontario, they’re going to be able to get the job done right.”

Tearing down interprovincial trade barriers has been a key pledge among premiers and the federal government in the face of the tariff threats, with all parties acknowledging that varying standards for labour and products produce obstacles to trade.

The province says two-way trade in goods and services between Ontario and other provinces and territories was worth over $326 billion in 2023.

Ontario also recently signed memoranda of understanding in support of free trade with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Ford said he’s hoping that all provinces and territories will formally commit to reducing trade barriers by July 1.

“I think we’re gonna have quite a few signed. We’re looking forward to signing with P.E.I., looking forward to signing with Saskatchewan and Alberta, and we’re working with (Quebec) Premier Legault, just through text messaging,” Ford said. “So I think we’re all we’re all going to come on board.”

He said any jurisdictions that don’t come on board will “miss the train.”