CFIB pleased with moves to improve interprovincial trade but continued leadership is crucial

TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2018 /CNW/ - The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is encouraged by recent updates from federal and provincial governments on progress made to remove interprovincial trade barriers experienced by small businesses.   

"It takes a lot of work for the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to reach these types of agreements but, given the competitive nature of the global economy, it is important work which is vital for our economic future," said Erin McGrath-Gaudet, CFIB's director of intergovernmental policy. "We are very pleased to see concrete improvements starting to roll out from the different levels of government."

Removing barriers to the movement of goods and services across Canada is a top priority for CFIB which applauded the signing of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement last summer. Further to that agreement, provinces and territories have announced they will recognize common standards for some health and safety equipment, allow wide-base single tires on major roads, and build a new multi-jurisdictional system for corporate registrations by 2020. These changes are in addition to commitments from the federal government last week to modernize and amend some of its own regulations around food labeling, meat inspection, and energy efficiency standards for appliances.

"It may not seem like much to the average Canadian but for small businesses that want to sell their products and services in other provinces or territories, removing duplication and recognizing each other's standards helps them save time and money," added McGrath-Gaudet. "For Canadians, this means access to more goods and services and, ultimately, lower costs."

With interprovincial trade on the agenda for the Prime Minister and Premiers when they meet in Montreal later this week, CFIB hopes they will build on this momentum to achieve concrete improvements for small businesses that operate in more than one province or territory.

"While these announcements are positive initial steps worth congratulating, we want our leaders to keep their foot on the gas. Unified leadership from the first ministers is important in order to bring interprovincial trade into the 21st century," said McGrath-Gaudet.

About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada's largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners' chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.

SOURCE Canadian Federation of Independent Business