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Provincial and Territorial Benefits
Benefits for the Northwest Territories of a potential Canada-EU Trade Agreement
Jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for the hard-working people of the Northwest Territories
An ambitious trade agreement with the European Union would be of significant benefit to Canada, resulting in a 20-percent boost in bilateral trade and a $12-billion increase in Canada’s annual income (gross domestic product).
That translates to an increase of $1,000 to the average Canadian family’s income, or 80,000 new Canadian jobs—which is like adding nearly seven times the number of jobs currently in the city of Yellowknife to the Canadian economy.
Many of the Northwest Territories’ key sectors would benefit from an ambitious Canada-EU trade agreement:
Scientific instruments
- Between 2009 and 2011, the Northwest Territories exported an annual average of $73,414 worth of scientific instruments to the EU.
- Current EU tariffs on scientific instruments average 2.7 percent. These tariff barriers would be eliminated under an ambitious Canada-EU trade agreement.
- Eliminating tariff barriers would increase sales of the Northwest Territories’ scientific instruments in the lucrative EU market of 500 million consumers. This would directly benefit the hard-working people of the Northwest Territories through more jobs, higher wages and greater long-term prosperity.
Services
- The services sector, overall, in the Northwest Territories is as important as the territory’s mining sector, with the two accounting for 60 percent of the territory’s total GDP in 2010.
- In 2010, the EU’s services import market totalled $1.4 trillion.
- Current EU trade barriers on Canadian services are citizenship or residency requirements, lack of temporary entry rules, and ownership and investment restrictions. These trade barriers would be reduced under an ambitious Canada-EU trade agreement, directly benefiting businesses and workers in this vital sector.
Investment
- Direct investment by Canadian companies in the EU totalled almost $173 billion in 2011, representing over 25 percent of Canadian direct investment abroad. The same year, direct investment by European companies in Canada totalled almost $161 billion, representing over 26 percent of total foreign investment in Canada.
- Investment opportunities in the Northwest Territories include mining and exploration, tourism and infrastructure investments.
- Putting predictable investment rules in place and guaranteeing access to EU markets will help create a level playing field for investors and businesses in the Northwest Territories and reduce the risks associated with investing abroad. This would lead to greater two-way investment, which would help create jobs and long-term prosperity for the hard-working people of the Northwest Territories.
Government procurement
- Workers in the Northwest Territories and the rest of Canada employed in fields such as engineering, architecture and technology could benefit from greater access to the EU’s procurement market, which is worth an estimated $2.4 trillion.
- Greater access to the world’s largest procurement market would benefit workers and their families in sectors that are vital to the Northwest Territories’ economy.
