b'COVER STORYOccupational and professional licensing remains a key obstacle and continues to have a significant impact on mobilityMUTUAL RECOGNITIONbetween the provinces and territories. A Labour Mobility Working GroupThe challenge of creating open labourments agree to accept each others stan-(LMWG) was established under the CFTAmobility across the country throughdards, regulations or laws with respect to with responsibilities that include assessingharmonization, as proposed by thegoods, labour and services without the the effectiveness of labour mobility acrossCanadian Free Trade Agreement, isneed for additional testing or compli-Canada and developing ways to reducedaunting, say some experts. As Toddance checks. In contrast, harmonization mobility barriers. There is an under- Hirsch, an economist and principal atis a stricter standard, imposing uniform standing that recognition of worker quali- Todd Hirsch Consulting, states, The fications in other jurisdictions providestheory of having 100 per cent fully openrequirements in all jurisdictions, which is greater opportunities for both employerslabour mobility will probably not occurmuch harder to accomplish. and workers throughout the country.simply because there are so many excep- Governments that have adopted mutual MAKING HEADWAY tions that provinces and territories wantrecognition find they can retain their own Fortunately, weve seen some seriousto maintain in their jurisdictions basedstandards and decide what other stan-headway being made in lifting labouron their constitutional right to governdards to recognize, giving them greater movement roadblocksor at the verythis area and protecting specific interestlocal autonomy and policy flexibility. least committing to doing so. In March,groups. The best we can theoreticallyThere are many proponents to introdu-the First Ministers issued a joint statementachieve is probably around 90 per cent. cing mutual recognition in Canada by on eliminating trade barriers in Canada.Theres another option, however, calledway of provincial and territorial legisla-They agreed that certified professionalsmutual recognition which has alreadytion. One of them is interprovincial trade with credentials in one jurisdiction shouldbeen adopted in many parts of the worldexpert Ryan Manucha, who says it would be able to work anywhere in the country. including Australia and the Europeansignificantly advance freer internal trade Later that month, Prime Minister MarkUnion. Mutual recognition is an arrange- within the country and unlock Canadas Carney went so far as to pledge to havement where just two or more govern- full economic potential.internal free trade in place by this years Canada Day, noting it could boost the economy by $250 billion. Clearly, there appears to be consensusquote is very applicable to the reemerging In early April, Ontario tabled a new billamong lawmakers of all political stripesconcerns about Canadas own internal to reduce trade barriers, which includedthat in the face of rising tariffs, we needtrade barriers and job mobility. barriers to working in licensed or regulatedto do all we can to eliminate internal trades and professions in other provinces.obstacles to moving goods and servicesIn simple terms, work on the approach On the East Coast, Nova Scotia andwithin Canada. And theyre starting toinitially emphasized under the CFTA Prince Edward Island tabled similar legis- take serious action in getting closer to arrangement, i.e., harmonizing standards lation. Ontario Premier Doug Ford alsothis goal.throughout provinces and territories, is signed memorandums of understandingA famous quote from Winston Churchillalready being done. The momentum, with the premiers of Nova Scotia and Newstates never waste a good crisis. Evenhowever, needs to keep growing.Brunswick that support removing barriersthough the Trump tariffs are a crisis thatCanada should not, after all, waste abetween those provinces.Canada is trying to deal with, Churchillsgood crisis.For business or leisure,theres always a littlesomething extra. 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