The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the concept of mutual recognition is one way to remove trade barriers between provinces.

Atlantic Vice President Louis-Philippe Gauthier says there’s “no question” that businesses face challenges when they have to deal with another province, such as around licensing, additional red tape, and additional costs.

He says there have been “some areas of improvement” since the Canadian Free Trade Agreement was put in place in 2017, but the work is “tedious,” and at the rate things are moving, it would take “decades” to remove the barriers.

Gautier says that’s why he is recommending that provinces take a mutual recognition approach – which means that if a person or business is certified in one province, it is automatically recognized in other provinces.

He outlined what he called a “huge development” yesterday, in which Nova Scotia tabled legislation saying they would recognize another province’s rules as long as they were also recognized.

Gauthier says the legislation shows that it is do-able, despite what he calls years of provinces saying they have to do it “step-by-step.” He says Nova Scotia has “shown the path, and hopefully other governments will seize the opportunity.”