TORONTO-Canada’s commercial real estate has traditionally mirrored the US markets, but during the past three years the country has pulled ahead with investment cash from oil fields in Alberta, and development going gangbusters because of the country’s trusted debt handling. Two real estate leaders in the country recently talked with GlobeSt.com’s Robert Carr about Canada’s continued confidence in 2012.

Brett Miller is leaving CBRE to become president of Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle’s new president of Canada operations. He tells GlobeSt.com that the country’s investors have the capital to bid on great properties, with many investments outside, such as in the United States, Brazil, England and Germany. “If there’s any quality property in Canada that comes available, such as Scotia Plaza, there’s generally a very competitive bidding environment,” Miller says. The landmark tower here could draw $1 billion for a sale.

Unlike the US, major Canadian markets are seeing massive amounts of construction activity in both office buildings and multifamily towers. Downtown Toronto has about 4.5 million square feet of new office downtown this year, with another eight million square feet on the drawing board, according to a recent study by locally-based Avison Young. In Alberta province, where the oil fields are, there is almost $208 billion (yes, with a b) in major projects either recently completed, under construction or proposed to start in the next two years, about three-quarters of these near Edmonton.

Mark Rose, CEO of Avison Young, tells GlobeSt.com that Canada is now the number one banking system in the world because of cautious dealings. However, continuing that cautious behavior, he says the country’s CRE professionals are keeping watch on a few issues. “Oil is doing extremely well, but natural gas has collapsed, and the question over the next year will be if the predominant industries here will be able to weather the storm,” Rose says. “Also, leaders here are considering a hike in interest rates, which could have a negative impact on growth.”

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Avison, JLL Tout Canada&#146;s Cash-Heavy Markets

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Avison, JLL Tout Canadas Cash-Heavy Markets