Canada's economy could gain nearly seven per cent, or $210 billion, in real GDP by fully removing internal trade barriers between the country’s 13 provinces and territories, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On average, the barriers are the equivalent of a nine per cent tariff nationally, estimates the report, which was co-authored by IMF researchers Federico J. Diez and Yuanchen Yang with contributions from University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.

That would-be tariff is even higher in service-oriented sectors like healthcare and educational services — more than 40 per cent — where professional mobility between provinces is highly regulated.

"Such a level would be prohibitive in most international trade agreements," the authors wrote. For comparison, the Bank of Canada estimates that the U.S.'s average tariff rate on Canada was 5.9 per cent in November 2025.