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Trouble is, everybody also favours their own exemptionsLast updated 3 hours ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.The challenge in freeing up internal trade and commerce is not identifying barriers. It is confronting the interests that benefit from them. Photo by FrankvandenBergh/Getty ImagesEveryone supports internal trade these days. Premiers support it. Business groups support it. Economists support it. Faced with geopolitical uncertainty and renewed trade tensions with the United States, governments across the country have embraced the idea that goods, services and workers should move more freely across provincial borders.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorTo be fair, some progress has followed the rhetoric. The federal government has removed its own exceptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. Provinces have begun reducing theirs. “Mutual recognition” has emerged as the preferred solution to many long-standing barriers: If goods and services pass muster with the regulations of one province, other provinces accept them.And yet, despite the agreements, barriers remain. Provinces continue to negotiate implementation details, exemptions and transition measures. Businesses and workers still encounter different rules, registrations and regulatory requirements depending on which side of a provincial border they happen to be operating on.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againWhich raises a simple question: if everyone agrees with free internal trade, what’s the holdup?Part of the answer is that the benefits of liberalization are widely shared, while the costs are often concentrated among those who benefit from existing barriers. Internal trade barriers survive, not because nobody notices them, but because somebody benefits from them.Canada has a single currency, a common citizenship and a common passport. Yet a company can still face additional registrations, compliance requirements and regulatory processes simply to operate across a provincial border. And though Canadians can move freely across provincial borders, their paperwork isn’t always granted the same privilege.The Canadian Free Trade Agreement guarantees the right of qualified workers to move and practice across the country. But Canada’s labour mobility framework is still like Swiss cheese. The framework is there — but there are holes.Nova Scotia, for example, has maintained exceptions for psychologists from Alberta because it believes there are meaningful differences in competencies related to assessment and diagnosis. As a result, a psychologist may be considered fully qualified to assess and diagnose patients in Alberta but require additional professional assessment after crossing over to Nova Scotia. Saskatchewan has exceptions for dental hygienists because of differences in scope of practice, prompting the question: does plaque really behave differently in Regina than it does in Halifax?Patients may not notice the border. Regulators and practitioners certainly do. Every province supports labour mobility in principle. But they also all believe their particular exceptions are warranted.Quebec adds another layer to the discussion. Even if a professional possesses the necessary qualifications and experience, he or she may still need to demonstrate proficiency in French before receiving a full permit to practice. A geologist arriving from Ontario may discover that mastering mineral deposits is not quite enough: they also need to satisfy Quebec’s French-language requirements before obtaining a regular licence. The rocks may not care whether they are studied in French or in English but the regulatory framework does.The same dynamic extends beyond labour mobility. Consider online gaming. Canadian gaming and entertainment operators can operate legally in provinces such as Ontario. Their advertisements can even appear on the boards at Montreal’s Bell Centre. Yet Quebecers cannot legally access their online gaming services because Quebec reserves that market to Loto-Québec. Whatever your position on gambling, that’s strange: A Canadian company can legally compete in Ontario, advertise in Quebec and employ Canadians across the country. What it cannot do is offer its service to Quebec consumers.The challenge in freeing up internal trade and commerce is not identifying barriers. It is confronting the interests that benefit from them, whether they be governments reluctant to surrender revenue, regulators reluctant to surrender authority or incumbents reluctant to face greater competition.That explains why exceptions, once created, tend to endure long after their original purpose has faded. In order to end the exceptions, we may need sunset provisions. Rather than remain in place indefinitely, barriers would expire unless governments could demonstrate a continuing public-interest rationale.Canada does not suffer from a lack of support for internal trade. It suffers from an abundance of exceptions.Miguel Ouellette, an economist, is a senior manager at MNP. 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