Charlottetown, PEI – September 26, 2024
Federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) ministers gathered in Charlottetown today for the annual Committee on Internal Trade (CIT) meeting. Chaired by the Honourable Gilles Arsenault, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Trade for Prince Edward Island, this year’s meeting focused on a range of initiatives to enhance the flow of goods, services, investment, and workers across Canada.
Ministers agree that strengthening internal markets is critical to improving productivity, supporting sustainable economic growth, enhancing supply chain efficiency, creating jobs, and addressing affordability issues in Canada.
To drive these priorities forward, Ministers approved the 2024-2027 Internal Trade Action Plan, which will further facilitate internal trade by:
- Reducing regulatory burdens and cutting red tape to unlock new opportunities for trade between provinces and territories for businesses in Canada;
- Promoting the strengths of the internal trade environment in Canada to champion the Canadian economic advantage;
- Enhancing communication with stakeholders on internal trade to help guide and prioritize government efforts to open doors for new trade opportunities; and
- Strengthening government collaboration to enhance labour mobility and further facilitate the movement of qualified workers throughout Canada.
Ministers recognize that safe, robust transportation networks are necessary to efficiently and reliably move goods across Canada, which is vital to Canada’s competitiveness, productivity and standard of living.
In that vein, Ministers endorsed pursuing a mutual recognition pilot project in the trucking sector, with the governments of Canada, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut participating in that pilot project, to explore where they could recognize one another’s regulatory requirements while ensuring levels of safety are maintained or strengthened. This project shall be undertaken in collaboration with the participating governments transportation ministers and could include measures such as driver medical requirements, training requirements, time-of-day definitions, and oversized vehicle signage requirements, and will be co-chaired by Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador. The participating governments will be reporting back on progress by CIT 2025.
Ministers also made a commitment to streamline access to government procurement opportunities to benefit businesses of all sizes across Canada, through the expansion of the CanadaBuys platform. This single point of access for businesses will, by September 2026, include procurement notices for all federal, provincial and/or territorial procurements covered by the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).
Ministers heard from Steve Verheul on the upcoming United States presidential election and its potential impacts on internal trade in Canada. Mr. Verheul previously served as Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator from 2017 to 2021 and, most recently, served as a special advisor on trade policy to the Government of Canada’s Deputy Minister of Finance.
Minister Arsenault concluded the meeting by reiterating the important role the Internal Trade Action Plan will play in ensuring a strong and productive domestic economy for Canada’s future.
The Honourable Caitlin Cleveland, Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment for the Northwest Territories, will Chair next year’s annual CIT meeting when federal, provincial, and territorial ministers gather in Yellowknife in late 2025.
Due to provincial elections, the government of New Brunswick did not take part in the meeting and the government of British Columbia participated as an observer.
About the CFTA:
The overall objective of the CFTA is to establish an open, efficient, and stable domestic market and promote long-term job creation, economic growth, and stability across Canada’s provinces and territories by reducing and eliminating, to the extent possible, barriers to the free movement of people, goods, services, and investments within Canada.
About the CIT:
The CIT is a ministerial table established under the CFTA to oversee the agreement’s implementation. The CIT includes representatives from all 13 of Canada’s provinces and territories and the federal government. It meets annually, and as needed, to evaluate Canada’s internal trade environment and review progress under the CFTA. The host government and role of Chair rotates each year and decisions are made by consensus of all Parties.
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