COLUMN: Canada must open interprovincial trade

COLUMN: Canada must open interprovincial trade

Published 1:18 pm Tuesday, July 21, 2026

The U.S. has just imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian wine.

That decision is beyond our control.

What is entirely within our control is why Canada still treats Canadian products as though they were foreign when they cross a provincial border.

This week, Canada’s premiers are meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I. On Thursday, July 23, they will sit down with Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss Canada’s economy, internal trade and our response to growing protectionism abroad.

If there was ever a moment to build a truly Canadian market, this is it.

For years, Canadians have been told to “Buy Canadian.” Canadians want to.

The problem is that governments continue to make it unnecessarily difficult.

The U.S. has made exporting harder.

Instead of responding by opening Canada’s domestic market, many provinces continue protecting fragmented provincial systems that make Canadian products more expensive for Canadians.

Some jurisdictions are even proposing new frameworks that claim to open direct-to-consumer sales while preserving liquor board markups, registration requirements and administrative fees.

Replacing one barrier with another is not free trade. It is simply a different way of collecting revenue.

Canada has spent decades negotiating trade agreements around the world. Yet we still haven’t created genuine free trade within our own borders.

No other major wine-producing nation treats one region of its own country as foreign.

France does not treat Burgundy as foreign in Bordeaux.

Italy does not treat Tuscany as foreign in Veneto.

Australia does not treat Barossa wine as foreign in Margaret River.

Yet in Canada, a bottle of wine produced by Canadians, employing Canadians and paying Canadian taxes can still face significant provincial liquor board markups simply because it crosses a provincial border.

Provincial liquor boards were created to regulate alcohol and collect public revenue. They were never intended to become barriers between Canadian businesses and Canadian consumers.

This is no longer just about wine. It is about Canada’s economic resilience.

Canadian wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries support farmers, manufacturers, trucking companies, tourism operators, restaurants, hotels and thousands of rural jobs.

The Deloitte Canadian Wine Supercluster report estimates the wine sector alone contributes more than $10 billion annually to Canada’s economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs. Expanding Canada’s domestic market would create even greater economic activity across agriculture, manufacturing and tourism.

Canadian business owners are not asking governments for a bailout.

We are not asking for subsidies. We are asking governments to stop making Canadian products less competitive in Canada.

The solution is remarkably simple.

Eliminate discriminatory provincial liquor board markups on Canadian-produced beverage alcohol moving between provinces.

Allow Canadian-made wine, beer, cider and spirits to be sold:

• Direct from licensed producers.

• Through provincial liquor stores.

• Through private retailers where permitted.

Require producers to collect and remit the applicable GST, HST or PST to the destination province.

Governments continue receiving tax revenue. Consumers gain more choice. Canadian businesses gain access to a national market.

Fourteen years ago Parliament removed the federal barrier through MP Dan Albas’s Bill C-311.

Since then Canadians have supported two House of Commons petitions and Parliament has considered two private members’ bills calling for greater interprovincial trade.

How many more studies, meetings, memorandums of understanding and promises are required before governments act?

This week’s meetings in Charlottetown are a test.

If Canada’s leaders leave talking about “Buy Canadian” while maintaining barriers that make Canadian products harder to buy, Canadians should ask why.

We cannot control Washington. We can control Charlottetown.

The U.S. has chosen protectionism. Canada should choose a stronger domestic economy.

Carney and Canada’s premiers have an opportunity this week to prove that internal trade is more than a slogan.

Stop treating Canadian products as though they were foreign. Build one Canadian market.

The time for studies has passed. The time for implementation has arrived.

Ron Kubek is the owner of Lightning Rock Winery in Summerland.