Excerpted from the Forward of Southern California & Canada: United through collaboration, defined by partnership, sustained by friendship
Southern California is an economic megaregion powered by its interactions with the globe. Through trade, migration, investment, entrepreneurship and innovation, the six counties that compose this dynamic southwestern corner of the United States consistently tells the world that they are open for business.
Though sharing another border, Canada is among the foremost of those countries who invest in the business, talent and creativity of Southern California. Not only have Canadians acted and produced on the stage and screen, but they have developed the region’s real estate; founded many of its startups; purchased its goods and services; and provided the region with many of its own. The interdependence of Southern California and Canada covers almost every economic activity from technology to tourism whose sum total provides billions in net worth in both directions.
To convey this chronicle of friendship and collaboration, the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles commissioned the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics to revisit the story originally told in 2012 with a report entitled Growing Together. However, this research endeavors to be more than just a second iteration of the previous work. Rather, this report strives to transcend the normal trade and foreign direct investment data to uncover the many facets that make the relationship between Southern California and Canada unique among its international partnerships.
The data, both qualitative and quantitative, contained in this document serve as an account of what we know and of what we could learn more about the economic and human ties between this nation-sized regional economy and one of its great international friends. In some instances, the data contained herein clearly expound the exchange in both directions; in others, the data is limited to showing similarities and potential synergies between Southern California and Canada with the promise of potential future investigation.
Finally, some discussion is lent to the recent federal-level discord between the United States and Canada and how existing and future business networks between Southern California and Canada can work beyond the friction between these national governments. Taken together, these elements detail a partnership of shared values, future-oriented thinking and cross-border integration that spans not just businesses but also individuals and families.
The LAEDC’s Institute for Applied Economics and Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles, with support from MAPLE Business Council ® and World Trade Center Los Angeles, are proud to present this report, Southern California & Canada: United through collaboration, defined by partnership, sustained by friendship, as a chronicle and celebration of the consanguinity between Canada and Southern California.
Read the report HERE.
View a one-sheet overview of quick facts HERE.