A promising step toward eliminating interprovincial trade barriers

Canada’s leading employers applaud the country’s first ministers for agreeing to reduce interprovincial trade barriers. For far too long, Canada’s economy has been hampered by internal restrictions to goods, services and labour. While yesterday’s agreement is an encouraging first step, we urge first ministers to act with urgency to deliver on their commitments and go even further, removing all barriers across the country. 

Dropping these barriers – which amount to tariffs we have been imposing on ourselves – will have a lasting impact on the lives and livelihoods of all Canadians. As we highlighted in a 2021 report by Deloitte, removing internal barriers could increase household incomes by thousands of dollars a year. 

The current trade dispute with the United States has focused attention on Canada’s economic resiliency. We cannot waste this moment. There are more steps our country can and must take to make our economy more robust, competitive and prosperous. As we outline in our latest report, now is the time for Ambition and Action.