The House of Commons International Trade committee met to study interprovincial trade barriers, hearing from Ryan Greer of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Caroline Senneville of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, and Ryan Manucha of the C.D. Howe Institute.
Ryan Greer said that while the past 18 months have seen more progress on internal trade than in decades, Canada still lacks free trade and risks settling for a permanent patchwork rather than a clean mutual recognition architecture. He argued that mutual recognition—accepting goods and services legal in one province as legal everywhere—is simpler and more scalable than harmonization, but warned that the current agreement covers goods sales but not how goods are produced, leaving separate permitting, safety, energy and building standards. He recommended a national mutual recognition scorecard, making mutual recognition a standing item at first ministers' meetings, a process to align new regulations before they diverge, and using federal fiscal levers such as conditioning labour market development funding on provinces meeting credential recognition timelines.
Caroline Senneville said that while her union is not against removing barriers, eliminating them will not transform the economy, as distance is the main reason businesses cite for not trading across provinces and the domestic market is small. She cautioned that mutual recognition could trigger a downward spiral in occupational health and safety and environmental standards, noting 257 workplace deaths in Quebec in the past year, and stressed that regulations must be assessed for whether they serve their intended purpose rather than simply cut. She argued that internal trade barriers are fewer than those in international agreements, that protecting the French language and workers' rights is essential, and that sectors such as agriculture, public monopolies and forestry should remain excluded from mutual recognition efforts.
Ryan Manucha said internal trade barriers are a natural by-product of Canada's federal structure but harm productivity and competitiveness, citing a study co-authored with Trevor Tombe that found regulatory patchworks in trucking add 8.3% to freight rates, a $1.6-billion drag. He recommended that Parliament update the Statutory Instruments Act to require federal regulators to rely on consensus-based standards, pass Senate bill S-239 to strengthen the Competition Bureau's ability to study internal trade, and condition labour market development agreement funding on provinces publicly demonstrating compliance with the 30-day standard for credential recognition. He agreed with Greer that mutual recognition is the right path and cited the Red Seal program and Australia's national licensing standards as successful models.
In response to questions, Greer and Manucha both said Canada does not have free trade and that complete free trade is aspirational. Greer said internal trade barriers cost businesses time and money, and that a simpler system would make Canada more competitive internationally. Manucha said the federal government must act as a central coordinating force, and that the Competition Bureau should be given explicit institutional authority over internal trade. Senneville reiterated that the least restrictive rule is not always the best, and that Quebec's unionization rate and language protections must be preserved. The committee did not debate any motions or procedural matters.
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