Starting January 1, the province says Canadians in certified professions will be able to start working in Ontario within 10 business days once regulators confirm their credentials, covering more than 50 regulatory authorities and 300 certifications, including 16 additional health‑regulated professions.
The province calls itself “Canada’s largest interprovincial trader” and says mutual recognition will slash compliance costs, speed approvals and improve competitiveness as it looks for growth in domestic markets amid “global market instability and volatility.”
Business view: symbolism versus execution
Not everyone sees the federal law as the main driver of change.
Ryan Mallough, VP of legislative affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, told CTV News that the Act is “symbolically” a strong way to start the year but argued “it’s more the provinces than the feds we’re looking for action from.”
He also said 2026 now has to be about “tangible action on the ground” and added that it “needs to come quickly because the CUSMA threat is hanging over all of us.”