Ottawa business leaders call for cooler heads after Trump win

American president-elect Donald Trump may need some educating when it comes to the significant economic relationship between the United States and Canada, according to business and trade executives in Ottawa.

Blair Patacairk, director of investment and trade at Invest Ottawa, said business developers will need to be patient with the incoming administration south of the border.

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"We need to step back and let the new government of the day get in, let them find out what's going on, what the advantages and disadvantage in their estimation are in their trade agreement," said Patacairk.

Ottawa is home to offices and research and development facilities for several U.S. multinational firms.

Those companies often come to the city for the talent and the highly educated workforce, Patacairk noted.

He said regardless of Trump's harsh, protectionist language during the campaign, the trade relationships between our two countries is not likely in peril.

"I think people are still going to look north of the border to develop and build their businesses and I think there's going to be good collaboration here," said Patacairk.

In fact, he said if business people in the U.S. are unhappy about the new administration, there may actually be opportunities to lure American companies here.

"Ottawa is a technology hub, it's also the seat of the government. There's a lot of great reasons why people want to go here and we would take advantage of that," he said.

NAFTA 'a disaster': Trump

Throughout the campaign, Trump repeatedly called North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) "a disaster" and vowed to renegotiate it if elected president.

But it isn't just Trump's stance on NAFTA that's unsettling Warren Everson, vice-president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Everson said Trump also vowed to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and is "against climate change obligations," and said American voters have now given Trump every tool needs to proceed with his agenda.

"Some of the things that got said were very aggressive against trade generally," said Everson. "Canada is, of course, the largest customer for U.S. goods in the world and the largest seller of products to the United States. We'll be watching carefully how they proceed in Washington with regard to changes to their trade agenda."

Everson said the chamber will urge Americans not to harm themselves by throwing economic obstacles between the two countries.

"The biggest concern I've heard today is people saying we just don't think people are going to make decisions or invest or hire a lot of new people until we start to see the flesh going on these bones," said Everson.

Incentive for Canadian firms

Christopher Kirkey, director for the centre for the study of Canada at State University of New York at Plattsburg, acknowledged a Trump presidency is going to create some anxiety among business leaders in Canada.

But Kirkey, who spoke at Carleton University on Wednesday, said there may actually be opportunities in the future for Canadian firms to head south.

"I think it may have incentive for Canadian companies, particularly as the Canadian dollar is on shaky footing these days, to consider greater investments in the United States," said Kirkey.