Canadian firms spent $9 billion on U.S. commercial real estate over the 12 months ending in June, up from a rolling five-year average of $5 billion at the end of the prior quarter, according to Colliers’ Global Capital Flows report.
The pace of purchases accelerated in the second quarter. The dollar total remains below the five-year average, but the data suggests Canadian buyers of all sizes have shrugged off the escalating tariffs and souring relationship between the two neighbors.
Canadian firms sent 32% of the capital they raised for global acquisitions to the U.S. in the year through June, up from 19.3% for the rolling 12 months a quarter earlier.
Across all global investments, Canadian firms deployed 32% of capital toward multifamily, 27% to industrial assets and 18% toward offices. Japan, the UK, Spain and Australia were other leading destinations, but the combined $4.9 billion invested into those four countries over the same period trailed the total sent to the U.S. alone.
“We are not an export industry. We don’t build apartments to sell them to Japan,” said Adam Jacobs, head of Canada research at Colliers. “Everything is local and more tied to local demographics and local job markets.”
The U.S. has long been the top destination for Canadian real estate capital, and the trend has held through President Donald Trump’s second term. The country pulled in $28.3 billion in the most recent period available, leading the UK by $3.4B after the UK had led three months ago by just $25 million. Overall inbound capital to the U.S. rose 21.5% from the prior year.
Cross-border investment globally climbed 21.2% from the year-earlier period through June, a six-percentage-point increase from the period ending in March. The wider reallocation of capital driven by tariff concerns has reshaped where global money is deployed.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board partnered with Brookfield Asset Management in July to take LXP Industrial Trust private in a $5.2 billion all-cash deal. That same month, BAM purchased a 49% stake in a $2.1 billion medical office portfolio owned by Denver-based REIT Healthpeak Properties.