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Jay Barber is the Director for Internal Trade at the Privy Council Office (PCO) for the Government of Canada.

In this role, Jay Barber is responsible for advancing Canada’s commitments under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), defining and leading federal efforts to strengthen the domestic trade policy agenda and is the designated Internal Trade Representative (ITR) for the Government of Canada. Most notably, Mr. Barber leads the implementation of the Federal Action Plan to Strengthen Internal Trade, an ambitious plan that outlines a whole-of-government effort to eliminate barriers to trade and labour mobility across Canada.

Previously, as the Director of Strategic Issues at PCO-Intergovernmental Affairs, Jay Barber was responsible for coordinating strategic policy advice for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Deputy Prime Minister as well as leading key federal-provincial-territorial engagements, including several First Ministers’ Meetings. Jay Barber also worked as a Senior Advisor to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs on a wide range of strategic priorities including the economic, trade and environmental portfolios.

Before joining PCO, Jay Barber was a long-serving Policy Manager at the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada. In these roles, he was responsible for community-based programming, social policy, and health surveillance and led a multi-year Canada-US partnership project with the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Jay Barber holds a Master’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Eyob Fissuh is currently the Acting Chief of the Trade and Business Data Lab at the Centre for Special Business Projects, Statistics Canada. With over 15 years of experience in research and academia, his research work spans peace and conflict studies, labour market dynamics, and interprovincial trade in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and an M.Com. in Economics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.