Canada wants renewed NAFTA to include easier cross-border movement of labour
OTTAWA — Enhanced labour mobility is high on the list of goals for the Canadian government as it gears up for next month’s start of negotiations on a renewed North American Free Trade Agreement.
Ohio-based trade lawyer Dan Ujczo shares an anecdote that explains why:
A U.S. company was looking to make a “major investment” in either the Toronto area or Nashville, Tenn. The CEO had just decided Toronto would be the beneficiary when he was stopped at a border crossing by a Canadian border agent who told him he needed a work permit to enter Canada.
“The young woman said … ‘You know, sir, it’s my job to save Canadian jobs, I can’t let you across’,” Ujczo recounts.