Washington

Aerospace, high technology and commodities dominate trade with Canada

The leading exporter in Washington is aircraft maker Boeing, which accounted for the bulk of the nearly $460 million worth of planes and parts Washington sold to its northern neighbour in 2020. Canada purchases more than two-thirds of all of Washington’s exports of farm, construction and mining equipment. The state’s large fishing and farming industries also depend heavily on Canadian customers, who buy half the state’s salmon exports, and a large share of its exported apples, cherries, potatoes, onions and berries.

The state’s large and growing service sector generated $1.5 billion in exports to Canada in 2020, including tech services and inbound Canadian tourism.

Washington’s consumers, manufacturers and farmers buy many of their resources and commodities from Canada, including oil, natural gas, softwood lumber, cement, fertilizer and animal feed.

Canadian-owned businesses employed 23,600 workers in Washington in 2018. Among the major employers are Chemtrade (specialty chemicals), Interfor (lumber), McFarland Cascade (pressure treated wood), Stantec (engineering), Air Canada Cargo, McCain Foods, and software providers BlackBerry, OpenText and Lightspeed POS.

What supporters are saying

“Trade with Canada and Mexico is critical for Washington state, the third-highest exporting state in the country.”

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), January 15, 2020

“We share so much more with Canada than just a common border. We share an incredible commitment to defeating climate change and a recognition that we can grow our economies while we’re doing that.”

Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA), May 18, 2017

“An integrated North American market, which this new USMCA continues, is critical to Washington state businesses, farmers, ranchers and workers.”

Lori Otto Punke, President of the Washington Council on International Trade, October 2, 2018

Spotlight on Canadian business

Groundbreaking expansion in ag

In 2019, McCain Foods USA, a leading supplier of frozen potato and snack food products across the country, begin the expansion of its potato processing facility. Located in the heart of the Columbia River basin in Othello, WA, the $300 million investment is anticipated to bring 180 new jobs to area residents and require extensive crop inputs from local potato growers. McCain Foods Othello employs over 450 individuals who produce and distribute more than 400,000 million pounds of frozen products. 

10,000 projects across the state

Stantec, the Edmonton AB-based engineering firm, has done more 10,000 infrastructure and environmental projects across the state and beyond from offices in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and Lynnwood, WA. Among its notable recent projects, Stantec provided lighting design for Bellevue’s redesigned downtown park; lighting, acoustical and electrical design for Seattle’s Chihuly Garden and Glass; modernization of the Lake Chelan hydroelectric generating station; plus numerous building projects, including Microsoft’s Building 83, Bellevue’s Lincoln Square and Northeastern University’s South Lake Union campus. Stantec also conducted a major study of how rapidly growing traffic at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is affecting the quality of life for people in the region, including noise, traffic congestion, public health and crime.

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