QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Internal Trade
Interprovincial Trade
February 24, 2026
Welcome, minister. My question follows other questions about interprovincial trade. Your government has reduced the barriers that you are responsible for. You have made more progress than the provinces have in reducing their interprovincial barriers. We also know, from the economic analysis, that a full reduction of interprovincial barriers would increase gross domestic product, or GDP, quite significantly.
You mentioned some initiatives that the provinces are undertaking now. What does your economic analysis show in terms of critical areas or initiatives at the interprovincial level that would have the most impact if they were implemented? I would first like to get a sense of what those areas might be. Thank you.
Senator, thank you for the question. The premise of your question is absolutely correct. The economic benefit to Canada’s GDP is considerable. The Prime Minister said it well, noting, “We will give ourselves far more than any foreign nation could ever take from us.” I think by that, he means reducing these internal trade barriers and focusing on major projects. But regarding the internal trade barriers alone, we have seen estimates as recently as a couple of months ago of 3.5% to 4% of the GDP in a true free trade context.
I’m optimistic, senator. The provinces are showing a great deal of willingness to move at speed. This has been a two-decade-long challenge. Everybody had reasons why this basket of exceptions was critical, including previous governments of Canada.
We are urging and working with the provinces to prioritize the building trades, for example, and in terms of your colleague’s question, through mutual recognition of skilled trades. We think that we can do a lot of work on harmonizing building codes. It makes no sense that a modular home made in New Brunswick can be more easily sold in Maine than it can in Prince Edward Island.
Are these the areas that you feel would have the greatest impact on GDP, or are there other areas that also need a lot of work?
Senator, there are many areas that need a lot of work, so your question about prioritization is the right one.
If you look at the needs of Canadians around housing and the ability to quickly build more houses — including modular housing construction — provinces tell us it’s their priority. We have put billions of federal dollars behind that initiative. We think it would be more efficient and improve the GDP of the country — not to mention the housing stock for Canadians — if we made significant progress quickly on mutual recognition and labour mobility. Let’s start with skilled trades and perhaps the medical profession as an example.
