The chief executives of Canada\u2019s provincial and territorial chambers of commerce today released Chambers of the Federation: An Agenda for a More Competitive Canada, a joint policy framework shared in advance of Canada\u2019s premiers\u2019 summer meeting in Charlottetown this week, and hot on the heels of the latest escalation in the U.S. trade war on Canada.<\/p>\n
The chambers welcomed recent progress on internal trade, labour mobility, and intergovernmental cooperation, and outlined practical actions that governments can advance over the next 12 to 24 months to strengthen economic resilience and competitiveness.<\/p>\n
The framework identifies five priorities for collective action:<\/p>\n
\n\tBuild one Canadian economy by advancing internal trade, labour mobility, and regulatory alignment, making this their highest joint political priority.
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\n\tCompete globally through a \u2018Team Canada\u2019 approach, aligned with the federal government on trade, supply chain resilience, and international competitiveness.
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\n\tBuild and connect Canada\u2019s energy and trade infrastructure by identifying nationally significant corridors and coordinating investment plans.
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\n\tAccelerate approvals for nation-building projects by improving regulatory efficiency and certainty.
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\n\tStrengthen domestic procurement and industrial capacity to support Canadian businesses and more resilient supply chains.
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\u201cCanada\u2019s premiers have moved the agenda further in the last year than in the last decade,\u201d said Daniel Tisch, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the founding chair of the Chambers of the Federation. \u201cNow comes the hard part: implementation. That means removing internal trade barriers, accelerating nation-building infrastructure, and building more resilient, sovereign supply chains that strengthen Canada\u2019s competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada\u2019s businesses are ready to build,\u201d said Rhonda Tulk-Lane, chair of the Chambers of the Federation and president and CEO of the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce. \u201cThey are ready to invest, hire, innovate and compete, and they need governments to move with the same urgency they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the progress made on internal trade, infrastructure and regulatory reform must now translate into sustained action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage Canada\u2019s premiers to seize this moment, work together, and turn today\u2019s momentum into lasting action. A stronger, more competitive Canada isn\u2019t built province by province \u2014 it is built together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chamber CEOs will be in Charlottetown throughout the Summer Meeting and available to premiers, officials, and media on July 21 and 22.<\/p>\n
Collectively, the signatory chambers represent more than 600 local chambers of commerce and 200,000 businesses of all sizes, sectors and regions.<\/p>\n