Provinces Sign Canadian Free Trade Agreement

On April 7th ministers representing all provinces and territories and the federal government signed the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The CFTA will allow for freer trade amongst the provinces and territories and significantly reduce regulatory barriers and standards inconsistencies across Canada.  Internal trade represents about one-fifth of Canada’s annual GDP, or $385 billion. It also accounts for almost 40 per cent of provincial and territorial exports.

Teresa Wat, BC’s Minister of International Trade, issued a statement of support for this noting that British Columbia has long been in favour of removing internal trade barriers. “B.C. played a key role in negotiating the CFTA – particularly in proposing the negative-list approach, which resulted in a more comprehensive trade agreement overall” stated Minister Wat. “Under this approach, all trade barriers across all sectors are lifted unless specifically identified as an exception” she added.

Read the Minister’s full statement here.

Read the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s statement on the CFTA here (link to: http://chamber.ca/media/news-releases/170407-canadian-chamber-applauds-new-canadian-free-trade-agreement)

Click here for a  CFTA general backgrounder

Click here for a CFTA top five benefits backgrounder