Agreement between Canadian provinces and territories extends full labor mobility across Canada by April 2009

The Committee on Internal Trade (CIT), comprising Canada’s provincial/territorial labor and trade ministers, has finally approved full labor mobility pact that, effective April 1, 2009, will allow Canadian citizens and permanent residents to move freely and take advantage of job opportunities across Canada without going through province- or territory-specific accreditation and/or licensing process.

Negotiated between the provincial premiers and territorial leaders during their two-day annual "Council of the Federation" meeting in Quebec City this July, the new full labor mobility pact aimed to amend a 12-year-old Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) that was supposed to remove economic trade and labor mobility barriers between the provinces and territories.

"Freeing up the enormous talent and enterprise of British Columbians and all Canadians by maximizing labor mobility is critical to building our economic strength, particularly during challenging economic times," B.C. Premier Campbell said. "This is an important step forward, and we need to continue to work on removing similar barriers to trade and investment, so we have full trade and labor mobility across the country."

Because of different accreditation and licensing requirements across provinces and territories, it has been estimated an about 25 per cent of jobs (in healthcare and engineering sectors, for example) have serious mobility constraints in Canada. These province- or territory-specific accreditation and licensing processes are not only making inter-provincial labor mobility challenging but also barricading a most stimulating labor market developing.

Dozens of classifications of workers currently need to re-qualify when they cross provincial boundaries for work. British Columbia has more than 250 occupations that are regulated, from chartered accountants to lifeguards, midwives and welders.

At their next meeting in August 2009, the premiers and territorial leaders will sit again and work out to harmonize the different provincial requirements for job credentials.

However, a similar agreement is already exists between the governments of British Columbia and Alberta known as British Columbia – Alberta Trade, Investment, and Labor Mobility Agreement (TILMA), which essentially recognized education credentials in each province, allowing workers to move freely across the B.C.-Alberta boundary and work in either province.

The new full labor mobility pact has critics, who argue that such deals can restrict governments' ability to protect health and the environment. It is also unclear how the deal will apply in areas where there are significant differences in local practices, such as forestry.

Some professional organizations question how such a deal will work, as well.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), in a report last month, said it supports labour mobility generally, but raised several questions about what the deal will mean in practice. Some of its concerns highlight how many details remain to be worked out before the April 1, 2009 change. The CMA paper asks, for example, how provinces will deal with doctors working on restricted licences and whether it will undermine existing certification standards.