Canada and the U.S. need a labour-mobility agreement that will increase the flow of skilled-trades workers across the border, a recent business conference heard.

Delegates at the recent Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) annual summit in Vancouver said they hoped the B.C.-Alberta Trade Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) can serve as a model for a similar deal between the Canadian and American governments.

"It's important for Canada and the U.S. to address some of the issues that we've had for professionals and trades and (other) people to move relatively easily across the border," said Anne Garrett, a Canadian consultant who completed an engineering reciprocity case study for PNWER.

"The changes after 9/11 were important in terms of security and so on. But from an economic point of view, keeping in mind the importance of security, we need to figure out how to get legitimate business travellers back and forth across the border easily."

- Monte Solberg, federal human resources minister

PNWER is a coalition of government, private sector and academic representatives from Pacific Northwest states and western provinces that encourages global competitiveness through regional co-operation. The region covers 20 million people and US$700 billion of gross regional product.

While the Canadian immigration system separates residency from work permits, the U.S. bundles the two together, said Garrett. She added the U.S. Immigration Act, which contains about 75 visa categories, needs to be overhauled.

"From the point of view of moving to the U.S., it's a very complicated immigration system, and that includes all the non-immigrant categories and visas," said Garrett. "For individuals and small businesses, it's a complex system to navigate through. I do genuinely think there needs to be some sensible reform of that system.

Enacted in 1952, the U.S. legislation has undergone many amendments over the years. "It's like software, where you kind of go, 'Hmm, it's become Band-Aided quite a lot. We need to start again,' " she said.

The U.S. and Canada should be considered as one entity when it comes to security, so that there are fewer concerns about people going back and forth across the border. Pre-clearance of migrating workers would also speed up the landing process, she suggested.

However, federal Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg indicated his government has other priorities on the Canada-U.S. trade front.

"That's an interesting idea," said Solberg of a cross-border version of TILMA. "Right now, what we want to do is knock down what I see as some unnecessarily burdensome regulations between our countries that tie people up at the border for too long."

He said his government will first work with its U.S. counterpart to simplify the process for people who want to work across the border.

"There are things that can be done, common-sense, small changes, that make a big difference," said Solberg. "Let's start doing that first, and if we can have some success with that and both sides of the border can see the benefits, then we can talk about other developments later."

Around the same time PNWER members were discussing cross-border labour mobility, Canada's premiers agreed at a meeting in Quebec to smooth the flow of workers between provinces and territories by 2009. Current provincial rules often require professionals and skilled-trades workers to obtain separate licences, credentials and qualifications from each province and territory.

"In some cases, we have better labour mobility with the United States than we do between provinces," said Solberg. "So it's good to see the premiers being active on that, and we're going to support them in any way we can."

Business operators and industry groups have repeatedly claimed inter-provincial barriers limit their access to skilled employees and add needless costs, while they face severe shortages of workers as more Boomers retire.

"It's hard to believe it's taken this long (for increased labour mobility between provinces) to get here," said Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of Calgary-based pipeline company TransCanada Corp., in an interview. "We should have absolute, unfettered labour mobility in Canada."

He said different provincial standards prevent TransCanada from hiring the most expert person for a project.

The biggest barriers, he contended, lie between Ontario and Quebec. NAFTA allows some skilled workers to move back and forth between Canada and the U.S., but professionals have a much harder time, he added.

"A company like TransCanada, we operate very significantly in both countries, and some of our most senior management people are in the United States," said Kvisle. "To bring an American up to work in a Canadian operation, it can be done. But it's more difficult and more time-consuming."

Gary Mar, now Alberta's special envoy to Washington, D.C., who was a signatory on TILMA while serving in former premier Ralph Klein's cabinet, said expanding its labour-mobility component across the border makes very good sense. But it remains to be seen how difficult it would be.

When their projects shut down in summer, Canadian oilsands workers could toil on refinery projects in Texas and Louisiana, while American workers could go north during their traditionally slow winter season.

"This cohort of people that could go back and forth would have very good employment opportunities on both sides of the border," said Mar.

Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of the Vancouver-based Business Council of British Columbia, said increased cross-border labour mobility would also help Canada's economy function better over the long term, and workers must become more mobile as the Canadian and American economies become more integrated.

But he doubts an international deal will be signed soon.

"The challenge, from a regional point of view, for PNWER is that the whole jurisdiction over these matters rests with the national governments," he said.

"The feds can provide some real leadership and direction on it, but the real levers of control are provincial," said Finlayson.

"Ninety per cent of the workforce in Canada comes under provincial regulation primarily. So it's up to the provinces, as B.C. and Alberta have already done, to try and minimize any barriers to labour mobility."

PNWER released a border charter that calls for Canada and the U.S. to make the 49th parallel more open and increase and expand frequent-crossing programs such as the Nexus card in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The coalition will also issue an annual state-of-the-border report card.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan became a member of PNWER.

"It is imperative that Saskatchewan build on its existing trading relationships and develop new ones in order to sustain and strengthen the province's current economic momentum," Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Bill Boyd said in a statement.

"Joining PNWER provides an opportunity to work alongside northwestern states and provinces to identify and manage challenges to present and future growth opportunities."

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)