Over 10 years, the stock of U.S. direct investment in Canada grew continuously, but the U.S. share of Canadian FDI decreased. Changes to Canada’s foreign investment regime may help sustain the upward trend of U.S. investment stock by making it relatively easier for private U.S. businesses to invest in our northern neighbor.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is the most extensive trade deal ever signed by Canada, and could be a template for the TTIP between the EU and the United States. The agreement will abolish most tariffs on merchandise trade between the largest consumer market in the world and tiny Canada, but it will also have far-reaching implications for investment, service trade, labor markets and regulations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Canada boasts the world’s third largest oil reserves, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. This standing rests on the country’s oil sands in the Western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the large-scale exploitation of which began a decade ago. The U.S. is currently the near-exclusive non-domestic outlet for Canadian oil, in the form of crude as well as raw and upgraded bitumen (or synthetic crude): it buys 97-99 percent of Canada’s crude oil exports. Canadian refining capacity is limited, and no real network exists—yet—to move oil economically and efficiently within Canada.

With its Plan Nord, the Quebec government has committed to generating CAD 80 billion in investment over 25 years in the north of the province, including several billion public dollars to build core infrastructure and improve local socioeconomic conditions. The area’s resources include 75,000 square miles of commercial forest; vast hydroelectric, wind, and solar power potential; unspoiled landscapes and wildlife to sustain tourism; and important mineral resources—including rare earth elements. 

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, one of the victims of increasing security concerns in the United States was Canada-U.S. trade. "Security trumps trade" became the new U.S. policy principle as myriad additional verifications of freight and individuals crossing the Canada-U.S. border were put in place to protect against potential terrorist threats.