Madam Chair, thank you.
Colleagues, thank you for inviting me, and thank you for welcoming my colleagues from the international trade department and the Privy Council Office.
Madam Chair, through you, thank you to committee members for the important work they're doing on internal trade and free trade within Canada. We think of trade as being outside our borders. We've learned in recent months and years that there's a huge opportunity within Canada. As you know, 520 billion dollars' worth of goods and services move across provincial and territorial borders each year. This is significant, but even more economic activity could be generated if trade within Canada were more open and efficient. The benefits would accrue to actors across the entire supply chain and the Canadian economy, from the manufacturer to the retailer, to ultimately, of course, benefit all Canadians.
Building one Canadian economy is one of the key missions the Prime Minister has established for our government because it's one of the key elements we control to help create jobs and grow businesses and, of course, make life more affordable for Canadians. We've all taken decisive action on this by removing federal barriers to internal trade.
The Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, which Parliament adopted last June, makes it easier for Canadians to work and do business across Canada. Through this act, as colleagues know well, we removed red tape by recognizing provincial requirements for the sale of goods or the provision of services across the country when they overlap with federal rules, allowing workers licensed or certified by a province or territory to work in a comparable occupation in the federal jurisdiction without needing to be recertified. We also removed all the remaining federal exemptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, which, coupled with the legislation I mentioned, means that federal barriers to internal trade are gone.
The work ahead now rests with provinces and territories, our partners in the federation. We are working in concert with them—it's a shared objective among first ministers across the country—to ensure that we get true free trade within Canada.
In November 2025, for example, I was at a meeting in the Northwest Territories. We signed the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement on the Sale of Goods making it easier for businesses to sell their products across the country by ensuring that if one jurisdiction deems a good safe for consumption, it's deemed approved in other provincial and territorial jurisdictions across the country.
All governments also agreed to a new memorandum of understanding on interprovincial trucking to improve the efficient movement of goods across the country, including measures such as common standards for signs, flags and lights to reduce necessary border stoppages.
As well, as colleagues know, we negotiated a new chapter, the financial services chapter, in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, which provides greater transparency and predictability to firms across the country.
On an individual basis, many jurisdictions have shown very considerable leadership on their own. The Government of Ontario, for example, was the first jurisdiction in Canada to follow our lead in removing its exemptions to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
Even with these accomplishments, though, we think, collectively, that we can do much more work.
Mr. Carney met with his provincial and territorial counterparts in January. At that meeting, the Prime Minister of Canada and his counterparts were very clear about how we must have a shared ambition with respect to internal trade.
I've since met with my fellow ministers responsible for internal trade, and we agreed on a clear road map a few weeks ago. We agreed to harmonize building codes and prefabricated housing approvals by 2026 and to advance digital credential recognition by 2027. We also agreed to extend mutual recognition to the service sector before the end of the year and—I hope we can discuss this—to launch a network of internal trade commissioners to increase interprovincial trade in things such as food and alcohol.
In closing, we are working with our provincial and territorial colleagues to come up with concrete collaborative solutions to eliminate any remaining barriers. As I told you, all premiers of all governments across Canada, no matter their party, wants to build one Canadian economy.
Thank you, colleagues, for the work you're doing on this issue. I look forward to the conversation over the next number of minutes.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
