SUPPORTING MORE TRADE AT HOME AND AROUND THE WORLD
Trade is essential to Canada’s economic success. It gives Canadian businesses access to new markets and new customers and creates good, middle class jobs – jobs that pay better wages, help families make ends meet, and build strong communities. One great example is the Michelin Plant in Granton, which has added and made permanent 350 jobs on the heels of the new NAFTA deal.
We will make it easier to trade here at home, and around the world.
Free Trade Within Canada
We will take bold steps to make free trade within Canada a reality.
Across Canada, the livelihoods of millions of workers depend on the good trade deals we have negotiated with our trading partners. And while Canada is a leader when it comes to international trade – we are the only G7 country to have free trade agreements with all other G7 nations – there is still more work to be done to make sure people benefit from greater trade right here at home.
Building on 2017’s Canadian Free Trade Agreement and more recent efforts to break down the barriers that limit trade between provinces and territories, we will move forward with new collaborative rules to streamline trade by promoting mutual recognition of standards from coast to coast to coast. This could mean, for example, that a professional who is licensed in one province is more easily able to work or practice in another.
We will actively assert federal jurisdiction where needed, to help move forward with free trade within Canada, and will create a Canada Free Trade Tribunal to hear, investigate, and help resolve cases where domestic trade barriers may exist.
Help For Canadian Businesses To Export And Grow
We will seek out more opportunities for exporting companies to succeed, grow, and create more good jobs. As the only G7 country with free trade agreements with all other G7 nations, and with comprehensive trade deals that give our businesses access to billions of customers around the world, Canada is uniquely positioned to help our businesses succeed and grow.
To help create more opportunities and more good jobs, we will move forward with new investments to promote Canada’s global brand and make sure that our companies have the support they need to break into new markets. We will also look for opportunities for increased collaboration between our talented scientists, researchers, and innovators and those in other G7 countries and advanced economies.
And to make sure that Canadian exporters have the help they need when they need it, we will give Canadian companies facing commercial or trade disputes abroad immediate, on-the-ground help through a Canada Commercial Consular Service.
Help For Canadian Exporters
We will help exporters who face commercial or trade disputes abroad.
Last year, we set an ambitious goal to increase Canada’s exports by 50 per cent by 2025. It’s a goal within our reach, but with protectionism on the rise around the world, Canada’s exporters are vulnerable to unfair practices by other countries who don’t respect rules-based trade.
Large corporations may have the resources to resolve these challenges in court, but the same isn’t always true for small or medium-sized businesses, especially those who are new to international trade. Just as our embassies support people when they get into challenging circumstances abroad, we need to protect the interests of Canadian companies. T
o help Canadian companies who encounter significant trade disputes around the world, we will move forward with a Canada Commercial Consular Service to help connect companies with local legal assistance and support.