Alberta’s red tape blocks business for Saskatchewan farm retailer

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Todd Taylor knows there’s a big market next door, but he finds selling into Alberta “frustrating.”

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Taylor co-owns Dwayne Enterprises, a farming retail business in Melfort, Sask. It sells large grain bins and hoppers, which are the steel stands at the bottom of the bins.

The largest bin-hopper combo is 27 feet in diameter, an attractive size for Albertan farmers.

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However, Taylor says getting a hauling permit to deliver equipment that size to the neighbouring province is near impossible.

“It doesn’t work,” he says. “They want what they want and if I can’t give it to them, then the deal’s off. I can’t talk them into smaller sizes.”

He likens it to asking a car dealership for a Ford F-150 pickup but being offered a Ford Fiesta, a smaller car that doesn’t meet the needs.

Hauling permits are required to move oversized loads by truck. Taylor uses a third-party hauling service and each shipment needs its own permit.

It’s not that the permissions are expensive, Taylors notes, they are “virtually impossible to obtain” for moving equipment through Alberta.

Provincial barriers

As a trade war brews between the U.S. and Canada, there is a growing call to buy local and increase trade within this country’s provinces.

But barriers to move products across provinces cost the Canadian economy between $50 billion to $130 billion annually, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce told the Leader-Post in January.

The interprovincial barriers don’t necessarily involve a tax on products. Regulations, such as the trucking permits Taylor needs, vary across provinces. Navigating those rules costs time and money when businesses try sending products outside of their boundaries.

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Saskatchewan is working on reducing provincial barriers to trade by harmonizing regulations on transportation, construction, mining, oil and gas.

“It’s tedious work, but it’s absolutely necessary that we keep our eye on the ball and aligning regulations across this nation,” Premier Scott Moe told reporters on Feb. 7 while preparing for a trade mission to the U.S.

According to Moe, the “largest” barrier between provinces is “our inability to get pipeline infrastructure built.”

The premier also wants to see carve-outs removed from the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). That pact for trade across Canadian provinces and territories came into effect in 2017.

Saskatchewan has around eight exemptions but is looking to potentially remove all of them.

“That is an opportunity for us as Canadians to open up free and open trade across our nation, east to west and as well north and south, to some degree,” said Moe.

He is encouraging other provinces to follow suit.

Saskatchewan also signed on to the New West Trade Partnership Agreement. Ratified in 2010, it established barrier-free trade between the four Western provinces.

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Varied regulations

The transportation industry alone has varied regulations for vehicle sizes, weight and even decals, explains George Henderson.

He is the director of operations and member services at the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA), an industry advocacy organization.

In Saskatchewan, hauling permits are overseen by municipalities, Henderson says. It’s a way for cities and towns to ensure road and bridge infrastructure can handle the weight and avoid hitting narrow structures or even electrical wiring.

Alberta and Manitoba have central offices that largely handle the permitting process. This means the trucking companies don’t need to get approval directly from the county or municipal district.

While he finds no permitting obstacles in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Taylor says getting a permit to move loads over 24 feet in diameter in Alberta can be a “rigmarole.”

He has sourced a trucking company with an Alberta permit but is not confident that approval will continue or if it was just by happenstance.

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Landlocked trade

As one of two landlocked provinces, most goods entering or leaving Saskatchewan are moved by rail or truck.

Exports from the province to the rest of Canada totalled $25.4 billion in 2022. That has grown by $7.4 billion over five years, according to Statistics Canada.

Imports from the other parts of the country into Saskatchewan hit $34.2 billion that same year. The import figure has grown by $8.2 billion over five years.

Taylor would like to add to his province’s export numbers. However, he feels like his business is being “stonewalled” at the provincial border to the west.

“It’s frustrating because literally I’m leaving sales that I could potentially have into Alberta.”

— with files from Alec Salloum

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