“New Brunswick and Newfoundland have long been good friends and now we’re going to be great trading partners,” says NB Premier Susan HoltPublished Apr 24, 2025 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 4 minute readA memorandum of understanding on free trade and labour mobility was signed Thursday afternoon by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt at Confederation Building in St. John’s. Photo by Keith Gosse/The TelegramFollowing weeks of discussions with his fellow premiers about how to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers, NL Premier Andrew Furey and NB Premier Susan Holt have signed on the dotted line a commitment to make it happen. On Thursday afternoon, April 24, both premiers met at Confederation Building in St. John’s to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on free trade and labour mobility to begin eliminating trade barriers between the two provinces.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThe move, which comes in the wake of Trump’s tariff threats, is part of the effort to boost the Canadian economy.What does the agreement do?Furey said trade barriers have unintentionally evolved and crept into the bureaucracy and governance of provinces in recent years. This MOU is aimed at removing them.With the added motivation from the United States, he said, NL is buckling down to re-evaluate the way it does business with other provinces in the name of bolstering trade and supporting local entrepreneurs. This agreement commits both parties to improving labour mobility, flow of goods, services, and investment that will contribute to sustained economic activity.“It makes no sense that a trucker licensed in New Brunswick can’t be licensed here in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Furey said. “It makes no sense that a first aid kit is good for the people of New Brunswick, but it is not good for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. “It’s those kinds of irritants that … prevent effective and efficient trade between jurisdictions… We want to make sure we’re doing our best to eliminate those barriers where it is possible and reasonable.”Article content Premier Andrew Furey, left, with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt, said he believes it’s important to recognize the complexities of interprovincial relationships. Photo by Keith Gosse/The TelegramHow will the agreement help?“Possible and reasonable” are critical words in the eyes of Furey, as he suggests there are certain industries and sectors that will require special consideration when reimagining trade between the two provinces due to cross-jurisdictional challenges.“It’s a very easy platitude to say, ‘Let’s get rid of every trade barrier,’” Furey said.“Of course, in Newfoundland and Labrador, we have a special jurisdiction when it comes to our offshore and that will be protected in the Atlantic Accord… We have equivalent labour arrangements with respect to some of our breweries, minimum processing requirements with respect to our fish and others.”Furey and Holt agreed that streamlining credentialing within professional designations is critical to allow efficient labour mobility between the province’s respective workforces, which Furey himself may find useful when re-entering the medical field in the coming weeks.Article content“Right now, I can tell you when I apply to my college here, all I have to do is check a box and I can be credentialed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and I look forward to doing Dennis King’s hip in P.E.I.,” Furey said with a smile. How will the agreement help businesses and the economy? A memorandum of understanding on free trade and labour mobility was signed Thursday afternoon by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt at Confederation Building in St. John’s. Photo by Keith Gosse/The TelegramThursday’s visit marked Holt’s first-ever trip to Newfoundland and Labrador, and she said it was “a treat to be here” to take the first steps in improving trade between the two Atlantic provinces, which may come as a breath of fresh air for small businesses.“We are going to make doing business in Canada easier and easier,” Holt said. “That means breaking down the rules that used to say that you had to get inspected in Newfoundland and then inspected in New Brunswick in order to sell that product. That makes things more expensive and more time-consuming for small businesses. The only companies that can compete in that environment are the big ones.”Read More Breaking down the barriers to interprovincial trade poses unique struggle in Atlantic Canada NL isn’t taking its foot off the gas as it battles Trump’s tariffs: Furey Article contentWhat sort of things will be traded between NL and NB?With Newfoundland and Labrador serving as New Brunswick’s fourth-largest trading partner when considering two-way trade, Holt believes this new agreement has the potential to redefine the relationship between the two provinces.“I think it’s clear that New Brunswick and Newfoundland have long been good friends and now we’re going to be great trading partners,” Holt said. “… We want to make sure people can move freely, goods can move freely, between our two provinces. It’s going to help reduce the cost of doing business. It’s going to help us grow our economies.”“This is a great example of how we start and how we can actually have a strategic space and vision in order to execute on eliminating barriers where they make sense while protecting local economic development,” Furey added.“Specifically for us, fish is a very obvious one. For the (N.B.) premier, lumber would be an obvious one… I think this agreement is a very good first step to eliminating the ones that make sense, that are the low-hanging fruit, that we can move forward on.”Article content
Newfoundland, New Brunswick sign Memorandum of Understanding to stimulate free trade, labour mobility
