The federal government’s announcement on April 21 of the creation of a second Domestic Trade Commissioners Network is long overdue. It is good news of real, meaningful, concrete action on an internal trade file filled with aspirational talk.
But it’s not enough. Alberta needs to follow Quebec and now Ottawa, and create its own domestic trade service.
With prospects for easier access to American markets growing dimmer by the day, Canadian companies desperately need better access to the easiest, safest market available.
That market isn’t in Asia. It’s here in Canada.
The Limitations of Barrier Reduction
Governments and academics have focused exclusively on reducing the legal and regulatory barriers to moving goods and people between provinces. This is necessary, but far from sufficient.
For more than a decade, we at the Canada West Foundation argued that lowering barriers helps companies already trading in Canada. It does little for companies that lack knowledge of distant domestic markets — and most interprovincial trade in Canada is a distant market.
Think of it this way: when Canada signs a trade deal to reduce barriers with a foreign market, it doesn’t stop there. Federal and provincial governments deploy resources to help companies find opportunities, meet potential customers and grow in the new market. The same logic applies here.
Removing barriers is not the same as leading firms to distant, new opportunities.
The Quebec Model
Consider a small company in Lethbridge that exports to customers in Montana and Idaho — a day’s drive away. How does that company find opportunities in Trois-Rivières or Trois-Pistoles, Que., let alone know the difference between the two?
For Quebec companies, the answer is simple — call the Quebec trade office in Calgary. For Ontario opportunities, call the Quebec trade office in Toronto. For defence procurement, call the Quebec defence specialist in Ottawa.
Quebec has done the hard institutional work to invest in a domestic trade commissioner service, and as a result is arguably the only province structurally prepared to benefit from free trade within Canada.
Ottawa has now picked up this idea, launching a Domestic Trade Commissioners Network. Alberta needs to follow.
Why Alberta Should Act
The case is intuitive to anyone who knows how Alberta handles international trade. The Alberta government supplements federal trade commissioners in foreign embassies to ensure Alberta exporters get specialized attention and aren’t lost in the queue — especially for sectors that matter to the province but rank low on Ottawa’s priority list.
The same logic applies to the new liberalized landscape of domestic trade. An Alberta company competing for contracts in Ontario or Atlantic Canada needs someone in its corner who knows Alberta’s industries.
Alberta cannot rely solely on federal efforts. The province must invest in its own domestic trade offices to unlock the full potential of interprovincial commerce, ensuring its businesses thrive in the safest market available: Canada itself.
