New Brunswick

N.B. premier optimistic about inter-provincial free trade following first ministers' meeting

Following meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other premiers in Saskatoon, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she’s optimistic that common ground can be found to allow greater mobility of goods and skilled labour across the country.

Premiers from around the country met in Saskatoon this week

Woman in pink pant suit speaks to reporters.
Premier Susan Holt says New Brunswick has been pushing for trade barriers between provinces to come down. (CBC News)

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is hoping to see plenty of movement toward free trade over the next month, but one business group says the province could be doing more.

Following meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney and other premiers in Saskatoon, Holt said she's optimistic that common ground can be found to allow greater mobility of goods and skilled labour across the country. 

"New Brunswick's been sort of at the table pushing the group at the federal, provincial and territorial table to move aggressively on this," she told reporters Monday night. 

Carney has promised federal legislation targeting barriers under Ottawa's jurisdiction by Canada Day, which could target anything from energy efficiency standards to environmental and regulatory assessments on major projects. 

But he praised provinces for how they've been working to reduce barriers to trade. 

"I can't keep up with the flurry of announcements of free trade agreements between provinces across the country," he said.

WATCH | What has New Brunswick actually done for inter-provincial trade?

Holt says N.B. is a leader in removing trade barriers. The truth is more complicated

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New Brunswick has looked at removing some of its free trade exemptions and improving labour mobility between provinces, but according to one business group, other provinces are steaming ahead.

"The federal government will do its part tabling legislation very shortly to eliminate federal barriers to inter-provincial movement of goods and people and also to put in place an ability to advance projects of national interest."

So far, New Brunswick has dropped a number of procurement exemptions for provincial agencies and has signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador to explore greater labour mobility. 

The province has also passed legislation allowing for greater sales of out-of-province alcohol, but that will require agreement from other provinces to take effect.

Another piece of legislation will smooth out licensing requirements for regulated workers who are certified in other provinces, allowing them to work while applying for certification with the corresponding New Brunswick body.

However, the Atlantic vice-president with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the province could go further, by recognizing certification in other provinces. 

"Essentially the province is allowing people to come in to work, but it's in view of getting their certification," said Louis-Philippe Gauthier.

Man in suit on Zoom call.
Louis-Philippe Gauthier, the Atlantic vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says New Brunswick could go further if it's serious about improving free trade. (Silas Brown/CBC News)

"Our contention would be that if somebody is certified by a professional association in one province, they should be allowed to practise in another. That's just a simple reality."

Provinces like Nova Scotia and Ontario are at various stages of passing legislation to do just that. 

A number of MOUs have been signed between individual provinces, as they look to drop restrictions over certain goods and services. Holt has even proposed an Atlantic free trade zone, with no trade restrictions among neighbouring provinces. 

While Gauthier said the momentum is positive, he warns that a new patchwork of differing agreements may not be much better than the free trade agreement the provinces have now. 

"Allowing the government to still impose restrictions just creates a Canadian trade agreement 2.0, where we're just going to see 169 different MOUs signed between each and every province and territory and that's not necessarily desirable," he said.

"Right now we have momentum, there's a desire, there's political support for moving forward and hopefully all the provinces will find a way without maintaining or adding restrictions."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Silas Brown

Video journalist

Silas Brown is a Fredericton-based video journalist. You can reach him at silas.brown@cbc.ca.