International Trade Committee on April 16th, 2026

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm calling the meeting to order.

This is meeting number 31 of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

You have received a draft study budget for the free trade within Canada study. Could we adopt that before I start with witnesses?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, February 12, 2026, the committee is commencing its study of free trade within Canada.

We have with us today, from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president, advocacy. Welcome back to our committee.

From Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec, we have Julie White, president and chief executive officer, by video conference.

From QSL International Ltd., we have Robert Bellisle, president and chief executive officer, by video conference.

Welcome to you all.

We will start with opening remarks.

Ms. Pohlmann, I invite you to give opening remarks of up to five minutes, please.

[Corinne Pohlmann, Executive Vice-President, Advocacy, Canadian Federation of Independent Business]

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to speak about the state of internal trade in Canada.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business represents more than 103,000 small and medium-sized companies across every sector of the economy and every region of Canada. For our members, internal trade barriers affect their ability to grow, hire, move goods and compete every single day.

Our latest internal trade survey shows that 63% of smaller firms have sold goods or services, or purchased goods or services from another province or territory in the past 12 months, with about three in four stating that they would likely expand to new or additional markets across Canada if internal trade barriers were reduced.

CFIB's interprovincial trade report card from 2025 and our progress report from earlier this year show that Canada has finally begun to make meaningful headway. In fact, more progress was made in 2025 than in the eight years following the signing of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement in 2017. Governments deserve recognition for that momentum.

Our message to you today is straightforward: Small businesses still do not experience Canada as one open domestic market. Much of the recent progress remains uneven, incomplete and fragile. Let me highlight a few key barriers that remain.

First, Canada is still operating as a patchwork of rules rather than as a single economy. Mutual recognition has been a major focus, and that is welcome. However, what CFIB hears from business owners is confusion. As of today, mutual recognition may exist in principle, but does not exist consistently in practice. Many provinces have adopted it with different scopes, different exclusions, additional paperwork and, in many cases, with reciprocal requirements attached. The result is that a product or service that is legal in one province often still needs to be reapproved in another. From a small business perspective, that's not real mutual recognition. It's old barriers wearing new labels.

Second, major sectors that matter most to small businesses remain excluded or are only partially addressed. This includes services, food, alcohol, and labour mobility, which are repeatedly identified in CFIB's research as some of the most persistent and costly internal trade barriers. This includes small business frustrations with differing occupational and health standards and safety equipment and needing to register in multiple worker compensation boards across the country.

Alcohol is another clear example. Businesses were told that direct-to-consumer shipping would be allowed, yet with the implementation deadline just a month away in May, most provinces have made little visible progress, with the exception of Manitoba and New Brunswick. That uncertainty is holding back investment and growth, especially for small producers.

The third barrier is that labour mobility continues to be undermined by regulatory duplication. Small businesses continue to face delays when hiring across provincial lines because of inconsistent certification requirements, duplicative paperwork and slow approval processes. CFIB's members tell us that this adds time and cost in a moment when skilled labour shortages remain a serious challenge. Internal trade reform will not succeed if workers still face barriers to moving to where the jobs are.

Finally, there's a lack of clarity and transparency for businesses on the ground. Announcing agreements or signing MOUs is not enough. Small business owners need to know what has changed, when it will change and how it applies to them. Too often the reforms are announced with no clear timelines, no plain language guidance and no accountability for results.

What does CFIB believe needs to happen next?

First, governments must fully and consistently implement pan-Canadian mutual recognition without reciprocal conditions and with very limited exceptions. Mutual recognition must be clear, automatic and enforceable or it will not deliver results.

Second, mutual recognition must be expanded to cover services, food, alcohol, and labour mobility. These are not small issues. They are central to the Canadian small business economy.

Third, governments need to publish clear implementation plans, including timelines, sector-by-sector coverage and practical guidance for businesses. If small businesses cannot see the change, it may as well not exist.

Finally, governments must avoid replacing old barriers with new ones. Pilot projects, carve-outs and slow phase-ins risk recreating the same fragmented system that has held Canada back for decades.

I think it is well understood that eliminating internal trade barriers is one of the fastest and most effective ways to improve productivity, competitiveness and economic resilience. We believe that Canada is closer than ever to achieving genuine free internal trade, but we're really not there yet.

Small businesses need governments to move from momentum to results and from announcements to implementation, so they can start to feel the impacts on the ground and can more easily operate and grow their businesses.

Thank you. I look forward to questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. White, it's on to you for up to five minutes, please.

[Julie White, President and Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I would first like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring the voice of Quebec manufacturers to this committee today.

Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec, or MEQ, is a business association that is obviously dedicated to growing Quebec's manufacturing sector. Our association represents businesses of all sizes from all manufacturing subsectors in all regions of Quebec.

We represent members' interests, and we support them when it comes to challenges related to labour, competitiveness, innovation and exports. We're also a member of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, the trade and industry association founded in 1871.

First of all, it's important to remember that the manufacturing sector is a pillar of Quebec's economy. It ranks first among all sectors based on its weight in the gross domestic product, or GDP, and it contributes 12.3%. We employ over 501,000 Quebeckers. We represent more than 86% of exports and we bring together more than 13,600 businesses. The latest data show that we generated over $219 billion in overall sales. We are at the heart of the economic vitality in many regions of Quebec.

Unfortunately, of all the sectors, manufacturing has been hit hardest by the trade war. A recent study by Desjardins also showed that Quebec was more affected by this situation than the other provinces. For our members, this is a perfect storm that we must fight to remain competitive and get through this period of economic uncertainty.

At a time when we're facing geopolitical upheavals that we are not on top of, it's essential to focus on solutions that we are on top of in Canada.

We've had the opportunity to talk about these various solutions on a number of occasions, but facilitating free trade within Canada is clearly one of them.

Let's face it, this is not a new request from the economic realm. Provincial and federal governments of all stripes have been promising to move forward in this area for decades.

All good crises create opportunities, and we need to seize this opportunity to resolve this issue. We were talking about these challenges during the pandemic. However, no significant short-term changes ensued. If we don't make all the changes needed right now, they will very likely never happen. I agree with what my colleague said earlier, that the past few months have been key and we must continue in that direction.

When we talk to our members about irritants related to interprovincial trade, it's important to tell you that the top irritant is transportation and the supply chain. Mr. Bellisle can talk about that later, but I thought it was important that I point it out. It's a major obstacle to maximizing the opportunities we have here in Canada. For example, I'm told all too often that it's much easier to send products to Florida from Quebec than from the Prairies. This is due to the availability of road infrastructure, differential trucking regulations, the resilience of our rail system and the lack of optimization of the St. Lawrence—Great Lakes corridor.

We've noticed, particularly since the last budget was announced, that significant progress has been made on some of those points, including the designation of the Contrecœur project concerning the Port of Montreal, the money provided for port investments and the desire to establish a new container terminal in Quebec City with QSL.

That said, a number of projects have been dragging on for a long time, and they deserve to move forward quickly. If these projects had been ready prior to what we're experiencing now, they could have had an impact on the current economic benefits.

We mustn't let our drive to move forward on this issue falter. We really need to continue to speed up our efforts.

As for trucking, we remind you of the importance of ensuring more fluidity to reduce transportation times. Mutual recognition of regulations would be a good way to get there.

In that regard, in Quebec, we note that a law has been passed to apply mutual recognition of other provincial regulations to facilitate interprovincial trade. In addition, the act is simple.

It's unrealistic to think that we can harmonize all regulations in all provinces in various fields across Canada, particularly because of the very nature of our federation and the unique features of the various provinces, including French in Quebec. It's possible to simply and easily recognize the regulations of the other provinces.

That applies not only to trucking, but also to a differential set of regulations. Take the manufacturing sector, for example. We represent a lot of manufacturers in the food sector, so that's one of the points we have to look at.

The federal government should take a leadership role in this situation to ensure that everyone follows suit. It should also follow suit itself with respect to added regulations on top of certain provincial ones.

Today, our main recommendation is to accelerate things in this area, ensure the continuity of investments and speed up investments in the logistics chain to ensure that our Quebec manufacturers can better take advantage of all opportunities across Canada.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Ms. White.

Mr. Bellisle, you have five minutes. Go ahead, please.

[Robert Bellisle, President and Chief Executive Officer, QSL International Ltd.]

Madam Chair, members of the committee, as president and CEO of QSL, I would like to thank you for this privilege to share our perspective on the essential role of marine transportation in the Canadian economy and to highlight how our sector is adapting to the current challenges and opportunities in the context of interprovincial trade.

I will speak to you today about the essential role of maritime transportation in Canada's economy, and more specifically about its importance to interprovincial trade, supply chains and competitiveness.

Maritime transportation is not a niche sector. It's a strategic pillar of our economy. Nearly 80% of the goods Canadians use move by ship at some point in their journey. While only about 5% of our trade with the United States is carried by marine transportation, half of Canada's total imports and exports rely on marine transportation shipping, whether it's finished goods, raw materials or critical industrial inputs. All of these are central to productivity, value creation and Canada's economic sovereignty.

Four major gateways structure our trade flows in North America: the east coast, the Pacific coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the St. Lawrence River-Great Lakes corridor. These corridors do not simply move goods; they support entire industrial ecosystems across both nations and their provinces or states.

QSL is a maritime company based in Quebec that operates in more than 66 port terminals across Canada and the United States, with over 2,000 employees. In Canada, we operate in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. From this vantage point, we see in real time how global economic shifts translate into pressures and opportunities for Canada.

We are currently witnessing significant changes across key sectors. Steel volumes have declined at several Canadian ports, reflecting the slowdown in the automotive sector and in parts of construction. In contrast, aluminum shipments, which once moved by rail to the United States, are now shifting modes and sailing to Europe. At the same time, the wind energy sector has experienced strong growth across Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, with components and blades arriving from Europe and Canadian plants moving across the St. Lawrence River, a strategic corridor for the energy transition, while other wind projects are idling in the eastern United States.

The bulk sector, including infrastructure materials and critical minerals, is highly sensitive to geopolitical dynamics, investment cycles and commodity price fluctuations, with the exception of certain essential goods, such as sugar and road salt, which Canadians and Canadian industries rely on daily. The container sector, by contrast, is driven primarily by import and export volumes, with shipping routes shaped by trade flows and terminal handling costs. Maritime transportation plays a critical role across both sectors by offering flexibility and scale. When it operates efficiently, it lowers costs, strengthens supply chains and delivers tangible benefits for businesses and consumers alike.

This brings me to the role of the federal government. It controls several key levers, notably the Canadian port system, border services and aspects of the regulatory framework. It is therefore essential that it be effective in what it already controls. Recent federal programs supporting port infrastructure are welcome and long awaited. The policy direction is correct. The challenge is now execution, and execution must happen faster. The timing could not be better. The maritime sector is currently aligned, mobilized and supportive of the initiatives under way.

This level of alignment across our supply chain is rare and represents a real opportunity to move projects forward efficiently and deliver tangible economic results. However, lengthy consultation and permitting processes, whether environmental or regulatory, remain a major obstacle. These processes are costly for governments but even more so for businesses, particularly when timelines stretch over many years. Respecting environmental and regulatory requirements is not in question, but there is clearly room to streamline processes, reduce duplication among federal organizations as well as provincial and public entities, and shorten timelines without compromising standards.

To illustrate this, we kicked off a terminal project in Sorel-Tracy in 2020. Six years later, consultations are still ongoing, and approvals are pending. One can only imagine the economic benefits that this project might have generated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Excuse me, Mr. Bellisle. Could you wrap up in your last 30 seconds, please.

[Robert Bellisle]

Yes, absolutely.

The same goes for the request to designate the Port of Québec in Quebec City as an international container port. Naturally, we know that there are no environmental constraints, that no public funding is needed, and that the project would immediately free up a meaningful capacity to process international containers, while also improving productivity through economies of scale.

The St. Lawrence River is a natural strategic axis for short sea shipping between Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario.

I will close by saying that, if we want to keep Canada competitive and face up to today's geopolitical requirements, interprovincial trade is crucial and we absolutely must ease regulations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We'll move on to our members.

Go ahead, Mr. McKenzie, for six minutes, please.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Pohlmann, I will start with you.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement entered into force on July 1, 2017. Its objectives generally were the improvement of internal trade in Canada.

As I understand it—and I have the benefit of some great research by the support people here at the House of Commons—two bodies were created. The CFTA, the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, established the committee on internal trade and the regulatory reconciliation and co-operation table. Both of those are governmental bodies.

I wonder if you have any insight into what they're producing and their effectiveness. Are they resulting in actual benefits in reducing barriers to internal trade?

[Corinne Pohlmann]

It's an interesting question.

We were big proponents of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and had a lot of hope that it would lead to something. We have worked often with the people who are part of the regulatory co-operation table, the people in the civil service of the various provinces and the federal government who work together.

What I think happened, in my opinion.... They're both still active. They both still meet on a regular basis. They don't necessarily consult with the industry much, though we force ourselves into the conversation. They really were focusing on harmonization. They would focus on very specific measures and then work for what seemed like two or three years on trying to harmonize this one very specific measure.

Progress between 2017 and 2025 was extremely slow. I think they had a list of maybe 40 or 50 areas, and they maybe achieved harmonization on about 15. Then, of course, it would go to the provinces for ratification and that would take.... It was just a very lengthy process, with very little to show from it.

I think the idea was right, but maybe the mechanism of trying to harmonize was not necessarily the most effective and expedient. Hence, we have been big fans of mutual recognition as a means of getting there more quickly. Potentially harmonize as you go as well, but the mutual recognition is absolutely important in order for us to move towards that one domestic economy that I think we all see as being important.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

For clarity, mutual recognition means that our standards may not be the same, but we recognize what one province is doing in another province.

[Corinne Pohlmann]

That is correct, exactly. Your rules are this, our rules are this and they both seem to be working in our jurisdictions. We're going to recognize the company that has abided by your rules to do that in our province and not make them go through a whole new process or buy a whole bunch of new equipment.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

It sounds horribly logical. Sometimes that's a rare commodity here in government.

One of the things that comes out of a bit of a time frame that I have in front of me, respecting some efforts being made by the federal government, is, most recently, establishing a Canadian internal trade data and information hub. The federal government has been undertaking some efforts to create platforms to share internal data.

Again, this is not something your group is perhaps working on or responsible for in any manner. Do you have any insight as to whether this effort is working?

[Corinne Pohlmann]

I don't have as much insight on that.

We have been pushing them to have more data to understand where the progress is being made and what the actual data is telling us, because it was being done kind of ad hoc before that. I think data is what's important to really know if you're making any progress. That was a bit of why it was established, I think.

I don't know how well it's been working or what the data is showing at this point, but again, I think that in concept it's not a bad idea as long as it's producing the information on a timely basis and not two years later.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Labour mobility has been a key issue, a key barrier to improved internal trade in Canada. Are we seeing progress on that? In particular, last year, the federal government made what I will characterize as another push on this front.

[Corinne Pohlmann]

There are improvements. Some provinces have made certain changes that have made some improvements in certain sectors, but generally speaking, we still hear about it being an issue. Obviously, in the professional realm, it can be a real issue because you have the colleges of each province that have different rules and regulations. There has been a little bit of progress here and there in various provinces to reduce some of the timelines.

In addition to that, a tradesperson with a Red Seal can work anywhere they want, but if they're in the process of getting trained, their training will look different from province to province. If they want to move while they're training, they may have to start all over again.

These are some of the little things that cause delays and make it much more difficult for people to move from one place to another where the jobs may be.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Very often at this committee the devil is in the details. That's a perfect example of that.

Mr. Bellisle, is your company involved at all in the shipment of crude oil by tanker?

[Robert Bellisle]

Indirectly we are, because we have the largest shipping agency on the eastern seaboard so we do have contracts as ship agents for large companies that are in that market.

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

I'm aware that crude oil moves by oil tanker from Montreal to Lévis, just outside of Québec City. That product, as far as I understand it, is refined there.

Are you aware of particular safety issues with that? This is an issue of concern for people in my constituency of Calgary Signal Hill because, of course, Alberta produces a great deal of crude oil and we'd like to ship more of it to the west coast. Safety of maritime shipping is a real concern.

[Robert Bellisle]

I can speak to two points on that.

One of the companies that does the shipment is Desgagnés, which I know personally. They're a large customer of ours. Safety is at the absolute forefront on their side. Valero, which is the refinery that operates, has safety at its absolute forefront as well. We're in good hands with those two companies in particular.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Fonseca.

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Welcome back to Ms. Pohlmann and the other witnesses.

In your opening statement, you mentioned that Canada has accomplished more in this last year in reducing interprovincial trade barriers than over the last eight years. That is great to hear. I know this has been a top priority for our government. All that are federal interprovincial barriers have been eliminated. I understand there are about 53 that have been eliminated. To help the provinces they've taken that leadership role as a catalyst of being able to see more of those barriers being eliminated across provinces.

You also said that there is still this patchwork of rules rather than one economy, and that old barriers are wearing new labels. We heard from MP McKenzie about the information hub and keeping tabs, keeping a score card.

Does the CFIB keep a score card in terms of what your top priorities are and how they're being addressed on interprovincial trade?