Breaking Down Barriers to Internal Trade

On February 21, 2025, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, announced the upcoming removal of an additional 20 federal exceptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), reducing the number of federal exceptions from 39 to 19.

This is welcome news - and good for Canadians and good for our economy - as it will provide Canadian businesses greater opportunity to compete across the country.

The removal of these barriers comes at a critical time, as Canada positions our domestic economy to respond to the threat of tariffs from the United States. Eliminating barriers to internal trade will reduce business costs, increase productivity, and potentially add up to $200 billion to the Canadian economy. There is just so much opportunity to trade amongst ourselves!

It’s more important than ever that we work together at all levels – federal, provincial, territorial – to reduce the burden on businesses in Canada. That’s why our government is encouraging all provinces and territories to take similar steps to reduce their own exceptions under the CFTA.

Let’s do this Canada and further break down barriers to internal trade!