Most Canadians are stunned to learn that the biggest tariffs Canadians pay aren’t to the U.S., but to each other.

The IMF estimates that interprovincial trade barriers are equal to a national tariff of 9.5%. This is far higher than the Bank of Canada’s assumed U.S. tariff on Canadian goods of 5.8%.

In fact, across Canada, internal trade barriers artificially inflate the cost of everyday goods and services by 7.8% to 14.5%. If we were to dismantle these domestic bottlenecks Canada’s GDP would grow by $161 billion a year, putting $2,300 to $4,000 a year back into the pocket of every Canadian.

Read on…