IIRC the feds already did their part, now it’s up to the provincial governments to sort it out amongst themselves.
tehlastcanadian on
If you’re like me and we’re wondering what’s the holdup.Â
“However, services — which make up the vast majority of internal trade costs, according to the IMF, and which would make up about four-fifths of the GDP gains outlined in the report — were largely exempt from that agreement.”
It’s up to the provinces and none of them have signed agreements to cover services. Mostly it’s just goods, except food and alcohol.Â
Honestly the way that Ford and Smith are (these are the two I’m familiar with), my guess they’re going to put province over country and keep the barriers up. Gate keep their industries, or use them as leverage instead of trying to building up National economy.
JackLaytonsMoustache on
A year ago there was seemingly unity on this issue from every provincial government. But then, like clockwork, they slither away from it.Â
Why can I get wine from California, Peru and Italy but not BC?Â
tathomas372 on
Why doesn’t the article provide real-world examples beyond “service-oriented sectors like healthcare and educational services”. Give us some proposed solutions.
mcurbanplan on
Better do it now before the sovereignist PQ wins the Quebec provincial election, as compromising with Canada will certainly not be a priority under their leadership.
motherseffinjones on
The premiers need to pull their heads out of their asses and get this shit done. Why are we letting special interest groups hold us back? Maybe I’m
Missing something so I’m open to hearing why this isn’t a good thing
KoldPurchase on
I doubt this study.
Previous studies have estimated minimal gains. Geography was the highest barrier, not tariffs.
It costs a lot more for a Montreal based company to import from BC than from Ohio or Michigan.
Sure, it’s nice for someone living in Northern NB to legally buy beer in Quebec.
But as for Quebec, were have a gazillion laws regulating alcohol that do not concern other provinces that could be revised or abolished and make life easier.
Even without trade barriers, it would still be easier to buy Ontarian wine than for a Quebec producer to sell his own product in a grocery store.
Most of our people can’t work on construction sites due to the stupid rules of the unions, youth are discourage and leave the industry.
These are shit that should be fixed first. I don’t know about other provinces, but I can imagine they all have their own stupid rules preventing commerce in their own backyard.
chat-lu on
Iʼd rather have a Canadian organization that helps companies to comply with provincial regulations because it is hard to research rules for every province yourself than to drop consumer protections everywhere to help interprovincial trade.
I fear that laws to help trade could result in standardizing to the province that has the lesser protection on any topic.
If you look at truckers right now you can see the dangers of allowing the province with the lowest standards in.
island-roamer on
Can someone explain to me why David Eby can go to India to make deals, why Scott Moe can go to China to make deals, while Danielle Smith can go to Maralago to make deals (LOL), but why we can’t get these premieres to drop all internal trade barriers? Why? Because one province’s protected (wine? cheese?) industry might take a hit, or have to charge more?
This has been a failure of the feds so far, to pick this low hanging fruit and get these premiers to the table and get this deal done. It seems so obvious.
Oafah on
I am done with adhering to principles in place of prosperity. I don’t have to agree with what a foreign government does to trade with them.
MarkCEINE on
On just about every issue the provinces are impeding progress for the country. I think it is getting better but the fiefdoms do not want to give up or share power.
But it actually doesn’t contain the analysis, just a summary, and refers to another forthcoming article for details (page 29).
Based on the summary, it sounds like the largest value barriers are regulatory in nature, with “health, education, and retail” being the most affected sectors (page 18). The perennial problem with liberalizing health and education mobility is that provinces worry that more easy mobility will mean a loss of workers to better paying provinces, so it’s not exactly an easy political ask. And there are important barriers between QC and the rest of Canada relating to differing labelling, safety standards, and other legislative requirements that are also quite challenging to overcome. For example, I wouldn’t expect that it should be easy for legal professionals to move in and out of Quebec given the differing legal frameworks and necessity of language competency.
throwawhyyc on
I thought Carney said all internal trade barriers had been removed? What’s left to do if not? We absolutely shouldn’t be stepping on our own toes.
13 Comments
IIRC the feds already did their part, now it’s up to the provincial governments to sort it out amongst themselves.
If you’re like me and we’re wondering what’s the holdup.Â
“However, services — which make up the vast majority of internal trade costs, according to the IMF, and which would make up about four-fifths of the GDP gains outlined in the report — were largely exempt from that agreement.”
It’s up to the provinces and none of them have signed agreements to cover services. Mostly it’s just goods, except food and alcohol.Â
Honestly the way that Ford and Smith are (these are the two I’m familiar with), my guess they’re going to put province over country and keep the barriers up. Gate keep their industries, or use them as leverage instead of trying to building up National economy.
A year ago there was seemingly unity on this issue from every provincial government. But then, like clockwork, they slither away from it.Â
Why can I get wine from California, Peru and Italy but not BC?Â
Why doesn’t the article provide real-world examples beyond “service-oriented sectors like healthcare and educational services”. Give us some proposed solutions.
Better do it now before the sovereignist PQ wins the Quebec provincial election, as compromising with Canada will certainly not be a priority under their leadership.
The premiers need to pull their heads out of their asses and get this shit done. Why are we letting special interest groups hold us back? Maybe I’m
Missing something so I’m open to hearing why this isn’t a good thing
I doubt this study.
Previous studies have estimated minimal gains. Geography was the highest barrier, not tariffs.
It costs a lot more for a Montreal based company to import from BC than from Ohio or Michigan.
Sure, it’s nice for someone living in Northern NB to legally buy beer in Quebec.
But as for Quebec, were have a gazillion laws regulating alcohol that do not concern other provinces that could be revised or abolished and make life easier.
Even without trade barriers, it would still be easier to buy Ontarian wine than for a Quebec producer to sell his own product in a grocery store.
Most of our people can’t work on construction sites due to the stupid rules of the unions, youth are discourage and leave the industry.
These are shit that should be fixed first. I don’t know about other provinces, but I can imagine they all have their own stupid rules preventing commerce in their own backyard.
Iʼd rather have a Canadian organization that helps companies to comply with provincial regulations because it is hard to research rules for every province yourself than to drop consumer protections everywhere to help interprovincial trade.
I fear that laws to help trade could result in standardizing to the province that has the lesser protection on any topic.
If you look at truckers right now you can see the dangers of allowing the province with the lowest standards in.
Can someone explain to me why David Eby can go to India to make deals, why Scott Moe can go to China to make deals, while Danielle Smith can go to Maralago to make deals (LOL), but why we can’t get these premieres to drop all internal trade barriers? Why? Because one province’s protected (wine? cheese?) industry might take a hit, or have to charge more?
This has been a failure of the feds so far, to pick this low hanging fruit and get these premiers to the table and get this deal done. It seems so obvious.
I am done with adhering to principles in place of prosperity. I don’t have to agree with what a foreign government does to trade with them.
On just about every issue the provinces are impeding progress for the country. I think it is getting better but the fiefdoms do not want to give up or share power.
If anyone’s looking for it, the actual IMF report referred to in the article is here: [https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2026/english/1canea2026001.pdf](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2026/english/1canea2026001.pdf)
But it actually doesn’t contain the analysis, just a summary, and refers to another forthcoming article for details (page 29).
Based on the summary, it sounds like the largest value barriers are regulatory in nature, with “health, education, and retail” being the most affected sectors (page 18). The perennial problem with liberalizing health and education mobility is that provinces worry that more easy mobility will mean a loss of workers to better paying provinces, so it’s not exactly an easy political ask. And there are important barriers between QC and the rest of Canada relating to differing labelling, safety standards, and other legislative requirements that are also quite challenging to overcome. For example, I wouldn’t expect that it should be easy for legal professionals to move in and out of Quebec given the differing legal frameworks and necessity of language competency.
I thought Carney said all internal trade barriers had been removed? What’s left to do if not? We absolutely shouldn’t be stepping on our own toes.