Eliminate barriers to trade between provinces and territories to positively impact the competitiveness of Canadian businesses and the lives of Canadians through greater harmonization of rules and regulatory requirements where appropriate.

What success looks like

Reduce barriers to trade between provinces and territories and greater harmonization of rules and regulations, making life easier for Canadians.

Government's narrative on progress

The Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade has initiated discussions with provincial and territorial counterparts to remove barriers to trade within Canada, which will create more middle class jobs for Canadians. An ad hoc meeting of federal, provincial, and territorial trade ministers took place in Vancouver on October 25, 2018 to discuss measures to reduce barriers to interprovincial trade and make life easier for Canadians. On November 28, 2018, the Government of Canada announced specific federal action to reduce barriers to trade within Canada. This included measures to make the national building code available for free and to align provincial and territorial codes with the federal codes; aligning meat inspection standards; amending the Energy Efficiency Regulations to ensure alignment across Canada and with the United States; amending the definition of vodka, and reviewing the guidelines for products to be labelled as a "Product of Canada." At the December 7, 2018, First Ministers' Meeting, First Ministers agreed to accelerate work to address domestic barriers to trade that increase business costs and impose needless burden on Canadian businesses. Specifically, First Ministers agreed to: • Develop harmonized standards in the trucking sector, building on federal investments in the National Trade and Transportation Corridors initiative. Federal, provincial and territorial governments will work together on an accelerated basis to harmonize standards for wide base tires, electronic logging devices, and size and weight restrictions. This will make it easier for businesses to transport goods from one province to another. • Take action to strengthen Canada’s agri-food sector, including clearer rules for organic products, and eliminating the duplication of food oversight and safety. The Government of Canada will also continue to work collaboratively with the territories to support their food industries and build food security. • Work with industry and consumers to develop ways to facilitate the sale of alcoholic beverages. As a first step, Canada will introduce legislative amendments to the *Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act* to remove the only remaining federal requirement that alcohol moving from one province to another be sold or consigned to a provincial liquor authority. • Accelerate work to strengthen the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, including a plan to reduce the number of exceptions and strengthen the dispute resolution provisions. On January 15, 2019, the *Safe Food for Canadians Act* and its regulations came into force, consolidating 14 sets of existing regulations into one, strengthening food safety rules, and focussing on food safety outcomes, allowing businesses to be more innovative. Federal, provincial and territorial officials are developing a process to assess whether provincial and territorial food inspection systems are equivalent to, or exceed, federal standards. This work is on track, with the goal of completing the framework for the assessment this summer. On January 21, 2019, the FPT Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety agreed to establish the same weight limits for wide base single tires as dual tires within their respective jurisdiction which will reduce costs and increase fuel efficiency. Further to the November 2018 announcement, consultations on the proposed amendments to the *Energy Efficiency Regulations* for household appliances closed on January 22, 2019, and consultations on amendments to Canada's vodka standard ended on March 15, 2019. Officials are currently analyzing the submissions received through these consultation processes. The 2019 Budget announced that the Government of Canada will introduce amendments to the *Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act* to remove the federal requirement that alcohol moving from one province to another be sold or consigned to a provincial liquor authority. Provinces and territories would continue to be able to regulate the sale and distribution of alcohol within their boundaries.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.