HALIFAX, NS – Maritime provinces Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are looking to streamline business regulations so businesses can run more efficiently.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil and New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant met at Armour Transportation Systems’ Halifax depot and signed a memorandum of understanding, according to media reports. The Premiers announced they’ll create a joint office to enable businesses to operate more efficiently between the provinces and to foster economic growth.

“Our goal is to make sure that goods and services and people can move freely among our provinces,” McNeil said. “It absolutely makes no sense that this truck standing behind me has different regulations when we get to the border of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.”

The initiative is part of what Gallant calls an unprecedented level of cooperation between the provinces. He said it makes sense for smaller provinces to work together as their sluggish economies face the same challenges, including budget deficits and aging populations.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the office will have a three-year mandate to reduce obstacles to business growth. It will be staffed equally by government employees from existing departments in the two provinces.

Armour Transportation Executive VP Ralston Armour said harmonizing regulations would benefit the operations of his company by helping it to move goods more efficiently.

For example, the company can move dangerous goods through New Brunswick in trucks hauling double trailers, but it can’t in Nova Scotia, said Armour, who has been featured in Today’s Trucking’s 2014 20 under 40 feature. 

“There will be cost savings, but it’s really going to make things easier for us,” he said.