Internal trade ministers backed a memorandum to align trucking rules across provinces

In November 2025, federal, provincial and territorial ministers on the Committee on Internal Trade met in Yellowknife and reached agreements to remove internal trade barriers in three areas, including trucking.

Alongside a mutual recognition agreement on the sale of goods and a new financial services chapter for the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, ministers backed a memorandum of understanding on interprovincial trucking. Nova Scotia said the memorandum would allow the safe and efficient movement of goods following national safety standards on steering axle weights; signage, lighting and flags for oversize vehicles; entry-level training; and other areas.

The steering axle change

A summary of the national weights and dimensions memorandum, published in October 2025 by the federal-provincial-territorial Task Force on Vehicle Weights and Dimensions Policy, listed a 12th amendment that raised the tractor steering axle weight limit from 5,500 kg to 6,000 kg. The same amendment removed a weight allowance introduced in 2011 for tractors equipped with auxiliary power units, and changed dimension limits for stinger-steer car and boat carriers to better match U.S. rules.

Reaction

Bruce Bowser, chair of AMJ Campbell, said in Nova Scotia's release that aligning trucking rules would mean fewer delays, clearer requirements and lower costs for moving goods across Canada. Nova Scotia noted that trucking regulation is shared among federal, provincial and territorial governments, and that more than $530 billion in goods and services crosses provincial and territorial borders each year.