MP Report: Interprovincial trade critical to Canada

By Glen Motz on March 5, 2025.

The threat of 25 per cent trade tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States was quickly met with the federal government’s single solution of retaliation dollar-for-dollar tariffs. Should such tariffs be realized, they would be catastrophic to our economy considering the U.S. imported $614.3 billion worth of goods from Canada in 2022, which grows annually – this according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

It is therefore crucial Canada focus on trade at home by quickly eliminating interprovincial trade barriers – expanding reliance on internal trade and less on imports.

Trade barriers between provinces are more costly than trade barriers between Canada and other nations. The result is that we now trade more with the rest of the world than we do with ourselves. In 2023, international trade was worth 66% of our GDP while interprovincial trade accounted for the remainder.

This is due mostly to differing regulations and red tape imposed by individual provinces. That makes no sense. The 340-page Canada Free Trade Agreement, intended to permit commerce between provinces and territories, has 133-pages reserved for exemptions to free trade, meaning trade barriers are firmly entrenched within the agreement.

Examples of these interprovincial trade barriers include: some truck configurations must be driven only at night in B.C., while in Alberta only during the day; some provinces have limits on the use of high-tech, fuel-efficient tires so truckers are forced to swap them out to cross various provincial boundaries. Food safety regulations vary across the country, with provinces having separate marketing boards for dairy and poultry, resulting in products produced in one province excluded from another. Beer, wine and spirits have interprovincial trade barriers. Even professionals and trades people have employment obstacles when relocating from one province to another.

Statistics Canada reports that the in-Canada collective trade barriers have essentially amounted to a 6.9 per cent tariff between provinces. According to economist and University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe, elimination of all interprovincial barriers could boost Canada’s economy by as much as 7.9 per cent and generate an economic boost of $200 billion annually.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will introduce a ‘Canada First’ plan to massively increase internal trade within 30 days of becoming prime minister, should the Conservatives be privileged to serve Canadians as their next federal government. An initial step is to bring premiers together to agree on removing as many exemptions as possible.

The Conservative plan also includes efforts to prioritize an agreement on one standard set of trucking rules to get billions of dollars of goods transporting east-west instead of mostly north-south, a move that would boost GDP by $1.6 billion.

The creation of a Blue Seal Professional Licensing Standard would be recognized in each province so doctors, nurses, engineers, and trades people could work in all provinces and territories would also be introduced.

Plus, those Canadians trained abroad can quickly get certified and up to our standards to begin working in Canada.

Provinces would be offered a Free Trade Bonus to get a deal done. Removing interprovincial trade barriers will generate more GDP and additional revenue. This increased government tax revenue would be given back to provinces as a bonus to spend on schools, hospitals, or whatever else the provinces choose.

Barrier-free trade within our own country is a vital economy-building option for businesses and consumers.

Glen Motz is the MP for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner

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