Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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A new trade agreement meant to break down barriers between provinces is getting mixed reviews in Saskatchewan, with one provincial minister calling it a significant step forward and a local economist warning it will have a much smaller impact than advertised.
The Mutual Recognition Agreement, signed last week by Ottawa and all provinces and territories, allows any product approved for sale in one jurisdiction to be sold across the rest of the country without additional licensing, testing or regulatory hurdles.
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Saskatchewan Trade and Export Minister Warren Kaeding. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
Saskatchewan Trade and Export Minister Warren Kaeding says the deal will finally give manufacturers the “free flow of goods” they’ve struggled to achieve for years.
“It ultimately reduces a number of barriers we have and lets goods be bought and sold across our great country,” Kaeding said.
“If it’s approved for sale in one jurisdiction, it now has that mutual recognition for sale here without needing to be relicensed or recertified.”
Kaeding says Saskatchewan has long been one of the most open jurisdictions in Canada, citing the 2017 Canadian Free Trade Agreement and the New West Partnership as examples. He argues this latest deal brings other provinces up to the standard Saskatchewan has already been operating under.
He says several sectors stand to benefit immediately, including appliances, industrial machinery, vehicle components, electronics, furniture and clothing. He also believes the agreement could help the medical-equipment sector expand more easily across provincial borders.
But University of Regina economist Professor Jason Childs says the economic impact will be far less than governments are suggesting, especially as major sectors remain excluded.
“Seventy per cent of the Canadian economy is services, and we’re only talking about products,” Childs said. “Automatically, 70 per cent of the economy is off the table.”
Childs notes that the deal does not cover food, beverages, tobacco, cannabis, plants or live animals — all significant sectors that affect everyday consumers.
“It won’t affect people’s grocery bills or anything like that,” he said. “Those categories are just not part of this agreement as far as I can tell.”
Childs says the agreement will still help niche manufacturers scale up faster, allowing them to reach a national market without navigating 13 separate approval processes.
But he warns there could be increased “jurisdiction shopping,” where companies seek out the province with the loosest standards and use it as a gateway to the entire country.
Kaeding says those concerns are manageable and argues consumers will benefit from increased competition and potentially lower prices. He also says work is already underway to expand mutual recognition in harder-to-regulate areas like alcohol.
“Direct-to-consumer alcohol sales is an area we are leading on,” Kaeding said, noting Saskatchewan is co-chairing that effort with Ontario.
Childs agrees that reforming food, alcohol and services is where the most significant economic gains remain.
“There are real benefits here, but it’s not going to give us eight per cent of GDP,” he said. “The next big step is tackling services and breaking down barriers around food and alcohol.”
Both agree the deal is progress, but how much it actually delivers won’t be known until the full text is released and provinces begin implementing it.
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