The premiers of Alberta and Ontario are set to meet in Calgary today to sign two memorandums of understanding.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office says she and Ontario Premier Doug Ford will sign agreements on energy priorities, trade and interprovincial co-operation.
The pair were together at a roundtable in Calgary on Sunday, with Ford tweeting that they discussed how to build new pipelines, as well as rail lines to export Canadian critical minerals and energy.
Smith also bumped into Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Calgary Stampede on Saturday.
When she told Carney about the agreements she and Ford would be signing, she said it would be "so great if we didn't have net-zero (carbon) rules."
Ford signed a memorandum in May with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew to boost the movement of goods and labour between the two provinces.
"The best way to protect Canadian workers from tariffs and economic uncertainty is to build the infrastructure that will get our resources to new markets," Ford said Sunday in a post on social media, along with photos from his roundtable with Smith.
Smith was also at the Premier’s Stampede Breakfast early Monday, and Ford joined her to flip some pancakes. About 25 people opposed to Alberta lifting its moratorium on new coal mining projects on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains stood outside the event banging drums.
The rush to break down internal barriers to trade comes in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war with Canada. One study estimates existing internal trade hurdles cost the economy some $200 billion a year.
Throughout the spring federal election campaign, Carney repeatedly vowed to "eliminate" interprovincial trade barriers and create "free trade by Canada Day."
In recent months, Smith has called for Carney to abolish several federal policies and programs, including a proposed greenhouse gas emissions cap, net-zero electricity grid regulations and the West Coast tanker ban.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025.