Paper Wins, Street Struggles: The Gap in Canada's Internal Trade Progress
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
The federal government is scoring A-pluses on trade report cards, but CFIB members say the 'on-the-ground' reality hasn't changed.
On paper, the federal government is killing it. According to a report from CityNews Toronto, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) just handed Ottawa an A-plus on its internal trade report card—a massive jump from the C grade it earned in 2025.
From my seat on Bay Street, the headlines look great. We're talking about the One Canadian Economy Act, which became law on June 26, 2025, and the removal of federal exceptions to the 2017 Canada Free Trade Agreement. Even the International Monetary Fund is weighing in, estimating that clearing these internal trade hurdles could eventually pump $210 billion into Canada’s real gross domestic product.
But here is the rub: if you talk to the shop owners on the block, the A-plus doesn't mean much yet.
Keyli Loeppky, the CFIB’s senior director of Alberta and interprovincial affairs, put it bluntly in the CityNews Toronto report: "Progress on paper is not the same as progress in practice." While the politicians are shaking hands and signing deals, CFIB members report seeing very little actual change in their ability to sell products across provincial or territorial lines. In fact, 17 percent of businesses surveyed by the CFIB said trading goods across the country has actually become harder.
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**OPINION: The Implementation Gap**
As a columnist covering the local economy, I'm less interested in the grade and more interested in the invoice. The CFIB notes that the recent grade bump is largely due to the Canada Mutual Recognition Agreement signed in November 2025, which allows goods sold in one province to be sold in another without redundant approvals.
But "mutual recognition" is a slippery term. Loeppky points out a glaring loophole: a product might be legal to *sell* in a province, but not legal to *use*. CityNews Toronto highlights the example of an Alberta-made chainsaw that could be sold in British Columbia but might not be eligible for use on a B.C. work site.
Furthermore, the "open for business" sign is still flickering when it comes to alcohol and food. Despite the rhetoric, the CFIB reports that only New Brunswick and Manitoba have fully opened up the sale of booze across the country.
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For the 62 percent of businesses that the CFIB says are looking toward domestic markets to offset U.S. tariffs and geopolitical shifts, these barriers aren't just bureaucratic annoyances—they are cost centers. More than a quarter of surveyed businesses believe that removing these obstacles would allow them to offer more competitive pricing, while a similar share say it would lead to a richer selection of goods for their customers.
Right now, the federal government and most provinces are celebrating their top marks. But as Loeppky warns, the bar was low to begin with. Until the mutual recognition pact expands to cover labour and services, and until provinces actually implement the rules they signed, these A-pluses are just ink on a page. For the small-biz owner, the only grade that matters is the one reflected in their bottom line.