The New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA) is an accord between the Governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba that creates Canada's largest, barrier-free, interprovincial market.
Under the NWPTA, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the first jurisdictions in Canada to commit to full mutual recognition or reconciliation of their rules affecting trade, investment or labour mobility so as to remove barriers to the free movement of goods, services, investment, and people within and between the three provinces. The NWPTA builds on the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between British Columbia and Alberta and has the clarity Saskatchewan was seeking on public ownership of Crowns and the ability of municipalities to support economic development.
The NWPTA came into effect July 1, 2010 and has been fully implemented since July 1, 2013.
The first Protocol of Amendment to the NWPTA was signed in January 2015. The Protocol clarified language around labour mobility and dispute resolution provisions, and introduced a bid protest mechanism effective July 1, 2015.
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan Manitoba have also committed to: