But the TPP is not just about selling products — it is also about international labour mobility.

Under the TPP, certain Canadians will be allowed to work abroad without having to prove there are no local workers available.

However, the trade-off is that more temporary foreign workers will be allowed into Canada under the same conditions. The question is: is this a threat or opportunity?

The answer is that this is an opportunity too good to be missed. Here is why.

Under the TPP, Canadian investors will be allowed to establish businesses in certain TPP countries and work in those countries. In return, foreign investors from certain TPP countries will be allowed to work in Canada as long as they invest a substantial amount of capital here.

A system that allows Canadian businesses to expand abroad while allowing foreign investors to invest in Canada and create jobs here can only be described as win-win.

For professionals and technicians, The TPP will allow certain Canadian professionals and technicians to work abroad without having to prove there are no local workers available. The big advantage here is that Canadian professionals and technicians will be given international opportunities that have previously never existed.

While the trade-off will allow certain foreign professionals and technicians to work in Canada, Canada has maintained two important protections that will prevent low-paid, unqualified professionals and technicians from entering Canada.

First, foreign professionals and technicians will need to meet Canadian licensing and other standards. Individuals who do not meet Canadian standards will not be able to work in Canada as foreign professionals and technicians. This will ensure that the Canadian standards designed to protect the public are maintained.

Secondly, foreign professionals and technicians will have to be paid salaries similar to that of Canadian professionals and technicians. By requiring this salary protection, this will protect Canada from an influx of cheaper foreign labour.

The one area of the TPP that has come under criticism is the section that would allow certain intra-corporate specialists into Canada. Under the TPP, employees of multinational companies will be able to work in Canada without having to prove there are no Canadian citizens or permanent residents willing and able to take on the job. Unlike the TPP rules for professionals and technicians, there are no rules on how much these employees must be paid.

While this seems concerning at first, this is not an issue for two main reasons.

First, the intra-corporate specialists' category only applies to citizens of certain TPP countries. According to a 2015 report by Mercer LLC, the cost of living in many major cities in these countries is higher than the cost of living in many major Canadian cities. As a result, the salary expectations of these specialists will likely be higher. When combined with the cost of transferring these employees to Canada, there will still be a financial incentive to hire Canadians.

Second, it should be noted that not all multinational employees will qualify as specialists. In order to be considered a specialist, an employee must prove that he or she has specialized or advanced knowledge with the company. This would generally ensure that only high-level employees will come to Canada under this category.

Source: Bloomberg.com