Opinion: Bolstering Canada’s right to repair could shield it against U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty

Canada’s economy has long relied on open trade and cross-border supply chains, but as tariff threats and market protectionism rise from the U.S. under President Donald Trump, so do Canada’s economic vulnerabilities.

What happens when crucial imports — farm machinery, medical devices, home appliances — become harder to access or more expensive?

The current crisis has unveiled deep weaknesses and dependencies in Canada’s economy. In 2023, 77 per cent of Canada’s exports went to the U.S., while nearly half of its imports came from its southern neighbour. For decades, this interdependence was viewed as a diplomatic success, but it’s now clear that this has come with risks and vulnerabilities too.

Political leaders across party lines recognize that Canada needs a plan for bolstering its economic resilience. This will require strengthening domestic manufacturing, expanding trade diversification and building new diplomatic and economic alliances. But this plan must also develop workforce resilience, domestic capacity and innovation right here at home.

The solution lies in strengthening Canadians’ right to repair the products and devices we rely upon. The right to repair is not just about environmental sustainability, it’s a matter of economic resilience; it can increase the number of well-paying Canadian jobs and reduce Canada’s dependence on unpredictable global markets.

The right to repair movement seeks to ensure that consumers, businesses and independent repair providers have access to the parts, tools, information and software needed to repair and maintain essential products, devices and technologies.

That means not only the smartphones in our pockets and the cars we drive to work, but also the machinery that harvests our food and the medical devices that hospitals rely on to save lives.

Currently, much of this equipment is either imported or relies heavily on imported components. Canada’s agricultural sector, for instance, heavily depends on machinery imports from the U.S. to maintain productivity and food security. This machinery is notoriously difficult to repair as the result of legal and technical restrictions. Canada’s agricultural equipment industry is faced with the same challenges as independent repairers.

Similar vulnerabilities exist in the health-care sector. Canada imports 70 per cent of its medical devices, with nearly half coming from the U.S. Much like those servicing (or using) agricultural equipment, biomedical engineers across Canada face a range of technical, legal and market barriers to keep devices online, pushing them into exclusive service contracts to keep devices working.

Consumer devices and home appliances are also overwhelmingly imported into Canada, making them susceptible to tariffs and trade barriers — all with the potential to make Canada’s cost-of-living crisis more dire than it already is.