Source: The Patriot Light | AWK Network | VIEW ORIGINAL POST ==>
Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand says Ottawa will remove more than half of federal internal trade barriers as Canada seeks to boost its economy while facing the prospect of U.S. tariffs.
The number of federal exceptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) will be reduced by 20, from 39 to 19. The majority of exceptions removed relate to government procurement, and are meant to provide Canadian businesses with a “greater opportunity to compete across the country,” said a government release.
“The removal of these federal exceptions from the CFTA is yet another step towards eliminating barriers to internal trade, reducing costs for Canadian businesses, increasing productivity and foreign investment, and adding billions to the Canadian economy,” Anand said in the Feb. 24 statement.
In July 2024, the federal government also announced it was removing or narrowing 17 of its CFTA exceptions, aiming to make it easier to trade within Canada. In total, Ottawa has removed 64 percent of the exceptions in the agreement since it was launched in 2017.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council of Canada have said reducing the number of exceptions in the CFTA would…
