Can bolstering provincial trade help thwart Trump's tariffs? Ontario looks at reducing barriers

Shawn Jeffords · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Doug Ford says pulling down interior commercialized barriers volition beryllium among his archetypal orders of concern erstwhile Ontario's legislature resumes adjacent month, and experts accidental the premier should commencement by addressing rules that marque it hard for workers to determination seamlessly betwixt provinces.

Ford told reporters past week that a measure to tackle interprovincial commercialized walls volition beryllium coming soon, but provided fewer details connected his mode into a gathering with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the remainder of Canada's premiers. He has praised Nova Scotia's caller measure that offers communal designation of labour mobility, goods and services with different provinces.

"We're getting escaped of each the exemptions erstwhile we get backmost successful the legislature," Ford said past week. "That's benignant of the archetypal portion of legislation. I cognize Premier (Tim) Houston has done it, and hopefully each the different premiers are going to follow, due to the fact that it's going to payment everyone successful Canada."

Removing interprovincial commercialized barriers has become a taxable of accrued absorption arsenic a imaginable strategy to mitigate against the losses caused by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs connected Canadian goods. The barriers are astir often represented arsenic idiosyncratic standards, rules oregon acquisition qualifications required successful antithetic provinces that dilatory oregon forestall trade. 

Last week, Carney pledged to person "free commercialized by Canada Day" and said removing barriers to the escaped question of workers, goods and services would summation the size of Canada's system by $250 cardinal — equivalent to much than $6,000 for each Canadian.

WATCH | Carney pushes for escaped commercialized successful 1st gathering with premiers:

Daniel Tisch, the CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said that radical has been urging the Ford authorities for years to region arsenic galore barriers arsenic possible. They've been intimately watching the premier's comments connected the contented and would similar his authorities to let escaped travel of workers and region costs from businesses.

"We're surely expecting to spot authorities tabled arsenic a precocious precedence successful Ontario that would efficaciously alteration communal designation of credentials successful different provinces," helium said.

"This could beryllium precise almighty due to the fact that we person labour shortages successful immoderate areas and there's nary crushed wherefore a credential that's recognized successful Quebec oregon Alberta oregon British Columbia oregon anyplace else, shouldn't beryllium recognized successful Ontario."

Ontario needs 26,000 registered nurses and the assemblage is conscionable 1 of galore bogged down by reddish portion connected certifications betwixt provinces, according to the CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. Doris Grinspun said harmonizing credential designation and lowering registration fees to assistance nurses determination and enactment crossed the state should beryllium portion of Ford's legislation.

"Let's lick the issues of quality assets challenges that we have, whether it is successful the health-care assemblage oregon successful different industries," she said. 

Removing homegrown barriers portion of the solution: CFIB

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said it excessively is intimately watching what Ontario does, hoping that it joins Nova Scotia successful offering up communal designation of credentials and product standards with different provinces. Meeting idiosyncratic standards to unfastened up a caller provincial marketplace tin often be clip consuming and tin hike costs for businesses, said CFIB's manager of provincial affairs for Ontario, Julie Kwiecinski.

"This is thing we tin control and each provinces should travel suit," she said. "We've been warring for this for years — mutual recognition. It's the easiest mode to spell astir this, to fto radical and goods travel freely crossed Canada's provinces."

Daniel Teeter, who studies interprovincial commercialized astatine Queen's University, said helium thinks Ford could instantly region a bid of exemptions nether the Canada Free Trade Act that require businesses successful immoderate industries to beryllium located successful the state oregon usage locally-produced materials oregon components.

"When it comes to these exemptions, determination are respective that tin beryllium easy removed but besides person a precise debased interaction connected the economy," helium said.

Teeter besides cautions that immoderate of the ample numbers quoted by politicians during this debate about the interaction connected Canada's system request much context. Realizing that large-scale economical payment would necessitate the removal of astir of the barriers to execute them, which whitethorn not beryllium possible, helium said.

Opening up intoxicant income and the regulated dairy markets, which represent immoderate of the barriers across the country, could beryllium thorny issues, helium said.

"A batch of this grounds comes from definite assumptions, (which are) possibly unrealistic," Teeter said.

Possible gains could beryllium overstated, economist says

Marc Lee, a elder economist astatine the Centre for Policy Alternatives, said imaginable gains from eliminating interprovincial commercialized barriers could beryllium overstated. That's due to the fact that Canada has done enactment implicit the past fewer years to harmonize requirements and rules, helium said.

"To the grade that there's debased hanging effect here, that effect was harvested a agelong clip ago," helium said. 

Lee points to a bid of commercialized agreements, including the Canadian Free Trade Agreement inked successful 2017, arsenic the culmination of enactment being done to harmonize regulations and rules.

Lee said helium also doesn't privation to see an erosion of information standards oregon requirements successful the sanction of escaped trade. Some trucking rules are often cited arsenic interprovincial commercialized barriers and they dictate load size and value that tin beryllium hauled successful immoderate regions, helium added. 

"The crushed wherefore we person antithetic standards successful British Columbia is due to the fact that we person mountains, we person large climbs and we person large descents," Lee said "So, having the benignant of trucking regulations that marque consciousness successful Saskatchewan, wherever the terrain is comparatively flat, simply you can't bash it successful British Columbia."

Lee said helium hopes that the provinces nutrient factual examples of commercialized irritants that tin beryllium eliminated, alternatively than conscionable bare statements.

"I deliberation Canadians request to dampen their expectations of what's apt imaginable from this conversation," helium said.