OTTAWA — Canada's new prime minister and its premiers agreed Friday to pursue plans to move more energy across the country, tear down internal trade barriers and build big projects faster.
"It is high time to build things that we never imagined, and to build them at a speed that we have never seen," Prime Minister Mark Carney said in French at the closing news conference following a meeting with the premiers in Ottawa. "We need to unite to build the strongest, fairest and freest country in the world."
The meeting between Carney and the premiers came just one week after Carney was sworn in as prime minister and about 36 hours before he is expected to call a federal election.
Carney said he and the premiers are looking to build a framework for growth in response to the tariff crisis triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
"We are in a crisis, not of our own making, but that is the case now," he said. "And we need to come together and focus on it, which is what first ministers were doing today and I salute them for it."
Carney and the premiers discussed finding ways to move energy and critical minerals across the country more efficiently, and to improve digital connectivity.
Asked by reporters whether his government would spend federal tax dollars to build an oil and gas pipeline, Carney said the matter is not "black and white" but didn't rule out federal participation in the future.
The first ministers also talked about moving quickly to eliminate trade barriers between provinces and with the federal government.
Carney said Ottawa will waive the one-week waiting period for employment insurance for those who lose their jobs to U.S. tariffs, and will temporarily allow Canadian businesses to defer income tax and GST and HST payments to help boost their liquidity.
"These measures as a whole will help our workers, help keep our businesses running and protect our economy during this phase of the trade war," Carney said.
Carney said his government is committing to removing all exemptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement to spur interprovincial trade.
He promised to introduce a "First Mile Fund" to provide capital to build transmission and transportation networks to link natural resource extraction sites to rail lines and roads.
Carney said removing barriers to the free movement of workers, goods and services across the country would increase the size of Canada's economy by $250 billion.
Ahead of the meeting, several premiers called for the elimination of interprovincial trade barriers.
Ontario's Doug Ford said premiers agreed with Carney on the need to cut red tape and "streamline approvals to get big things built faster" — although not all are ready to quash interprovincial trade barriers.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ford said his province and Nova Scotia are moving ahead with legislation to remove interprovincial trade barriers.
Asked by reporters if all premiers are on board with that effort, Ford said "one or two" are not.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who attended the meeting virtually, said Thursday that his priority for the meeting with Carney was to discuss China's tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal.
Beijing imposed the tariffs in response to Canada's levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting Friday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Carney committed to reaching out to the Chinese president before calling a federal election.
Carney said his government would table legislation by July 1 to allow goods to travel across the country barrier-free. He said his government would also remove labour mobility restrictions in federally regulated professions and eliminate duplication by recognizing provincial assessments for major projects.
"We will work with the provinces and other stakeholders, Indigenous groups, to identify projects of national significance and accelerate the time frame to build them," Carney said, citing the Cedar LNG and LNG Canada projects in British Columbia and the Port of Churchill project in northern Manitoba.
"Together, we can give ourselves more than any foreign government can ever take away," Carney said.
To encourage Indigenous participation, Carney said his government would double the Indigenous Loan Guarantee to $10 billion.
"We will keep working with our provincial partners to build out national interest projects that cross interprovincial boundaries so they can be prioritized and accelerated," he said.
"Our vision is one where goods, services and workers can move seamlessly from coast to coast to coast."
This was the first time all the premiers met with Carney.
Ford told reporters after the meeting that Carney is an "extremely bright business person" who "gets it" and "wants to get it done."
Kinew said he sees Carney as "a dealmaker."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 21, 2025.
Catherine Morrison and Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
