This is an HTML version of anarticle that ran in the April 2014 issue of RealEstate Forum. To see the story in its originalformat, click here.

Although an all-out merger between the US and Canada is notlikely, Canadians are taking a bigger chunk of the US commercialreal estate market.

Call it an invasion from the Great White North. Commercial realestate investors and developers—even Canadian banks—have a growingappetite to buy, build or lend against all asset classes in many USmarkets. Yes, what started out long ago with individuals scoopingup residential properties in warmer US climates has become afull-blown CRE trend that's gaining momentum faster than the wintersnow melts across the border in springtime. Some Canadians are evenjokingly referring to the US as “the 11th province.”

Canada is the number one foreign investor in US real estate,putting nearly $12 billion to work in 2013, according to AvisonYoung. One of the biggest deals last year was Canada-basedBrookfield Property Partners' $1.1-billion acquisition of Atlanta'sIndustrial Developments International. But GlobeSt.com headlinestell a broader story of deals large and small: Canadian REIT BuysVirginia Hotel Portfolio for $37M; Canadian Developer ProposesHotel; Canadian Buyer Grabs Publix Retail Center; Amazon.comFulfillment Center Purchased by Canadian Investment Firm; CanadianDeveloper to Build Dallas Res Tower; Canadian Fund Acquires 50Rental Homes—and the list goes on.