{"id":36052,"date":"2025-07-16T15:23:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T19:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/?p=36052"},"modified":"2025-07-18T09:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T13:38:12","slug":"a-new-era-of-labour-mobility-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/construction-and-infrastructure-law\/a-new-era-of-labour-mobility-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"A new era of labour mobility in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amid growing tariff challenges from the United States, on June 6, 2025 Canada\u2019s federal government introduced Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act<\/em><\/a>. Bill C-5 contained two acts: the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act<\/em> and the Building Canada Act<\/em>. The Bill received Royal Assent on June 26, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill C-5 was designed to enhance Canada\u2019s economic competitiveness and had been touted as necessary to accelerate major, nation-building projects by removing additional federal layers of approval and building \u201cone economy out of thirteen.[1]<\/a>\u201d The Bill is considered to be the federal government\u2019s response to the recent economic pressures from the U.S. and an effort to make domestic trade more attractive as well as remove barriers to the flow of labour between Canadian jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the two acts, the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act<\/em> (the \u201cLabour Mobility Act<\/strong>\u201d) is of most interest to employers in the construction sector. The Labour Mobility Act provides for a labour mobility framework to reduce the barrier for certified workers in the skilled trades to work at any jurisdiction in Canada. A skilled trade worker certified in any province will be recognized as qualified for any federal project in any province without having to seek further approval or be subjected to additional federal requirements, provided that the provincial standards are comparable to their federal counterparts. The new legislation will make it easier for businesses to work on federal projects across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it is too early to tell whether the new Labour Mobility Act will indeed make it simpler for labour to flow across provincial lines and, consequently, accelerate major federal projects, employers in the construction industry should be mindful of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n