Toronto, July 15, 2026 – The Ontario government received an A in CFIB’s latest Internal Trade Report Card released today, one of 10 jurisdictions across Canada to receive this high mark. This year’s report card shows clear improvement across the country compared to previous years.
CFIB is urging all governments to ensure their internal trade progress gets translated into changes that are felt on the ground by small businesses. In a recent CFIB internal trade survey, over two-thirds (67%) of Ontario small businesses reported not noticing any significant change in doing business across Canada over the past 12 months, and 14% said it has become more difficult. Awareness remains an issue: More than half (54%) responded that they’re not yet familiar with recent reforms.
“We applaud the Ontario government for their significant progress on navigating unprecedented ground,” said Angela Drennan, CFIB’s Ontario Vice-President, Legislative Affairs. “As next steps, Ontario could do even better if they implement mutual recognition regulations with feedback from the consultation completed earlier this year, and act on Memorandums of Understanding to start direct-to-consumer alcohol shipping between all provinces.”
Restrictions on the movement of food and alcohol products remain a source of frustration for many small businesses, limiting market access and consumer choice. Other persistent interprovincial barriers include tax complexity, licensing and regulatory differences, and transportation and logistics challenges.
“Some bright spots in the report card for Ontario include being one of only two jurisdictions to receive an A+ for removing all Canadian Free Trade Agreement exceptions, and being one of only two jurisdictions to eliminate extra-jurisdictional business registration fees,” said Julie Kwiecinski, CFIB’s Ontario Director of Provincial Affairs. “As noted in CFIB’s January 2026 mutual recognition submission, the unintended consequences of exceptions could be administrative burdens that governments have been trying to prevent.”
The report card mentions that “As of Right” models like Ontario’s to improve labour mobility represent meaningful progress. The next step to achieving true labour mobility across Canada would be to implement a comprehensive mutual recognition framework that eliminates duplicative registration and cost burdens, so that licences or certifications issued in one Canadian jurisdiction are automatically accepted in all jurisdictions.
CFIB will update its report card methodology for 2027 to better reflect real-world small business experiences and internal trade reform outcomes.
“Internal trade progress has moved more in the last two years than in the last decade, and our methodology needs to keep pace,” said Keyli Loeppky, CFIB’s Senior Director of Interprovincial Affairs. “We want to make sure we’re measuring what matters most to small businesses and highlighting where governments are making a real difference.”
| Jurisdiction | I. Canadian Free Trade Agreement Exceptions (40%) |
II. Select Barriers to Internal Trade (20%) |
III. Status of Items from Reconciliation Agreements (40%) |
Mutual Recognition (Multiplier) | Overall Score and Grade | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MB | 7.3 | C+ | 5.4 | D | 9.6 | A | 9 | 9.8 | A |
| SK | 6.9 | C | 5.3 | D | 9.2 | A | 9 | 9.7 | A |
| NB | 5.9 | D | 6.4 | C- | 8.8 | A- | 9 | 9.7 | A |
| NS | 2.5 | F | 6.9 | C | 9.1 | A | 9 | 9.6 | A |
| QC | 0.0 | F | 5.0 | D | 9.6 | A | 9 | 9.5 | A |
| ON1 | 10 | A+ | 6.1 | C- | 8.4 | B+ | 5 | 9.3 | A |
| NT | 4.9 | D | 2.0 | F | 8.8 | A- | 8 | 9.2 | A |
| PEI | 3.3 | F | 4.3 | D | 8.8 | A- | 8 | 9.1 | A |
| AB | 8.0 | B | 4.9 | D | 9.5 | A | 5 | 9.0 | A |
| YT | 2.7 | F | 3.0 | F | 8.8 | A- | 8 | 9.0 | A |
| BC | 7.6 | B- | 4.1 | D | 9.6 | A | 5 | 8.9 | A- |
| NU | 4.6 | D | 2.0 | F | 8.6 | B+ | 1 | 6.1 | C- |
| NL* | 4.3 | D | 2.7 | F | 8.5 | B+ | 1 | NA | NA |
| FED2 | 10 | A+ | 9.7 | A | 10 | 10 | A+ | ||
Notes:
1. While “A+” is not currently included in the grading scale, Ontario and the federal government are awarded an A+ in the area of Canadian Free Trade Agreement Exceptions for having no exceptions.
2. The federal government is scored on two areas: an economic impact score based on the procurement exceptions it maintains from the CFTA in 2025, and the implementation status of reconciliation agreements. Both areas are weighted equally (50% each), as the select barriers area was not available for this analysis.
*NL given an NA due to recent change in government.
For media inquiries or interviews, please contact:
Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region, including 40,000 in Ontario. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.