Expert: Arizona’s economy should not be affected by falling Canadian dollar value
Dec 21, 2015, 6:00 AM
PHOENIX — Despite a struggling Canadian dollar, one Arizona expert thinks the country will remain a positive asset for the state’s economy.
“I think the overall Canadian (economic) impact on the Valley is going to increase in spite of the 30 percent foreign exchange rate,” Glenn Williamson, CEO of the Canada-Arizona Business Council, said.
Williamson said despite the fact that the Canadian dollar has dropped $.72 cents on the dollar, an 11-year low, there is still a maintained amount of long-haul travel into the “sun states” of the U.S.
In addition, Air Canada has increased their flights into the Valley by 20 percent this winter, Williamson said.
“Remember, you’ve got 900,000 Canadians coming down here, many of them already have their houses down here so they’re still going to come,” Williamson said.
Traffic patterns showed around 23 million Canadians will come into the U.S. as a whole this coming year, Williamson said.
“The amount of Canadians that are here now (that are) already built into the DNA of Arizona in businesses and house ownership and commercial real estate ownership is still very, very significant,” he said.
