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“Without the new Canadian Free Trade Agreement, we could have seen a circumstance where EU companies were getting greater access to the Canadian market than homegrown companies,” said Brad Duguid, Ontario’s minister of economic development and growth, who was chair of the negotiations. “That just didn’t make sense to any of us.”

“This is really about Canada strengthening its home-field advantage,” said Navdeep Bains, federal minister of innovation, science and economic development. “At the federal level, we’re making significant investments in infrastructure, $180 billion over the next 10 years. That procurement will be open to all businesses across the country.”

Labour mobility is another big part of the agreement. Licensed professionals and trades people accredited in one province, such as engineers or carpenters, will be allowed to work in another province without having to re-qualify with the local regulator.

The agreement also opens the power generation sector and permits energy utilities to compete for business across provincial lines.

The deal sets up a “negative list” regime in which all trade moves free unless one of the 14 governments declares an exemption — and the list is already long. The exemptions — one reporter counted 144 of them — take up 135 pages or 60 per cent of the 335-page agreement.

It will come as little surprise that alcohol — an item that always comes up in discussions of Canada’s internal trade barriers — features prominently in the list of exemptions. Yet the deal does not shut the door to future liberalization. The deal gives the federal government, provinces and territories one year to come up with recommendations on how to enhance internal trade on wine, beer, and spirits.