Quebec effort to ease internal trade means less red tape for racehorses, undertakers

The Quebec flag flies on top of the national assembly’s main tower, Wednesday, January 18, 2023 in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press)

MONTREAL — Quebec is taking some halting steps toward scrapping interprovincial trade barriers with measures that will reduce red tape for funeral directors, real estate brokers and racehorse owners.

The government is also looking to harmonize regulations on consumer goods with other provinces as part of a countrywide effort to boost internal trade.

Christopher Skeete, Quebec's junior economy minister, said Wednesday the province is making progress on breaking down trade barriers but acknowledged the slow pace can be "frustrating."

"In a lot of ways, a trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico is easier to ratify because we have three jurisdictions that are trying to harmonize trade," he said in an interview. "In Canada, because we're a federation, we have 14 different jurisdictions."

The provincial government announced Wednesday it is planning to withdraw at least five of its exemptions to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. Quebec has a total of 36 exceptions to the internal trade pact, which took effect in 2017 — more than any other province.

On the chopping block is a requirement for a person registering a racehorse in Quebec to have lived in the province for 183 days. Another requires would-be funeral directors to have lived in the province for a year before seeking a permit.

A third soon-to-be defunct exemption requires real estate brokers to have an office in Quebec to work in the province, while a fourth obliges board members with Quebec's ferry authority to live in the province.

The fifth allows Quebec to determine the conditions for the use, sale, transportation and destruction of explosives.

"They are absolutely specific and completely, I would say, insignificant," Skeete said. The five exemptions will be scrapped on June 30.

Gabriel Giguère, senior public policy analyst with the Montreal Economic Institute, said the fact that such specific carve-outs existed in the first place shows Quebec has not been serious about facilitating interprovincial trade. He said the exemptions may have been the result of industry lobbying.

"I'm not an expert in horse races, to be quite honest with you," he said. "But what I can say is that it doesn't look to make any sense."

Giguère said Quebec should consider removing other exemptions that would have more of an impact, including one that requires timber harvested in Quebec to be processed in the province.

Skeete said the government is considering getting rid of seven other exceptions to the trade pact. Last month, Ottawa announced it would remove more than half of the federal exemptions to the agreement, and all provinces have agreed to review their own carve-outs.

But Skeete said the more important measure Quebec has promised is to look at harmonizing rules with other provinces for all consumer goods except food, beverages and tobacco.

He said provinces can have varying regulations for specific products — like the thickness of a hard hat, for example. "Without realizing it, we're 14 people coming up with 14 different rules about that helmet, which in effect creates a barrier, even though that's not the intention," he said.

Quebec has already announced it will participate in a project to streamline trucking rules across the country.

Giguère said Quebec's approach is tepid compared to that of Nova Scotia, which last month tabled legislation aimed at tearing down trade barriers. According to the bill, goods manufactured and produced in another province or territory that passes similar legislation would be treated the same as products produced in Nova Scotia.

As well, Nova Scotia would not apply any exceptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement with a province or territory that passes a similar bill.

Giguère said Quebec's efforts don't measure up to the reality that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on Canada in April. "It's good to see the step in the right direction to reduce barriers, but we need now to be more ambitious," he said.

Skeete argued that Nova Scotia's bill will be a "non-starter" if no other provinces pass similar laws.

"I would say the weak point of what they're offering is the reciprocity aspect of it," he said. "We've agreed to look at every consumer good, regardless of whether or not our other partners are doing the same as us, and I think that makes us more ambitious."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2025.

Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press