MIAMI—It's a Canadian capital invasion. Commercial realestate investors and developers—even Canadian banks—have agrowing appetite to buy, build or lend against all asset classes inmany American markets. Yes, what started out long ago withindividuals scooping up residential properties in warmer USclimates has become a full-blown CRE trend that's gaining momentumfaster than the winter snow melts across the border in springtime.Some Canadians are even jokingly referring to the US as “the 11thprovince.”

GlobeSt.com caught up with Brian Ward,president of Colliers International's CapitalMarkets group in the Americas, to get his take on what's drivingthe trend in part one of this exclusive interview. Be sure to comeback to this afternoon's Miami edition to read part two.

GlobeSt.com: Canadian dollars are flowing into theUnited States seeking commercial real estate investments. Has thatactivity increased or decreased since 2012-2013?