Politicians overstating benefits of scrapping internal trade barriers: Think tank Canadian Press Published Jul 07, 2025 • Last updated Jul 07, 2025 • 1 minute read ...

OTTAWA — The federal government and Canada's premiers are greatly overselling the benefits of breaking down internal trade barriers, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues in a new report.

"Enhancing internal trade and removing barriers will be a key tool to counter the impact of U.S. tariffs," said Laura Scaffidi, Freeland's director of communications.

Freeland has pointed to studies that say internal trade barriers amount to a seven per cent tariff that Canada imposes on itself, and that removing them could boost the economy by up to $200 billion.

The federal government and Canada’s premiers are greatly overselling the benefits of breaking down internal trade barriers, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues in a new report. The left ...

A business in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, for example, will likely be at a disadvantage compared to a service provider from Ontario or Quebec, he says. Sur also flagged the potential downsides of ...

Many proponents of reducing inter-provincial trade barriers claim the barriers cost the Canadian Gross Domestic Product $240 billion a year, or up to four-to-seven per cent of the total GDP.

The Business Council of Alberta has estimated that interprovincial trade barriers are tantamount to a 6.9-per-cent tariff on Canadian goods, and the International Monetary Fund has estimated the ...

One of the best examples is removing the last remaining barriers to the movement of goods and labour within Canada as a means of reducing our trade dependency on the United States.