Canadians can't vote in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, but that doesn't mean they're immune to the outcome, says a Nova Scotia analyst.

Patrick Sullivan, CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, said a victory by one candidate in particular — Donald Trump — could have a significant effect on the Nova Scotia economy.

Trump has vowed to tear up NAFTA if elected, and Sullivan said that could raise the price of imports Nova Scotians depend on, while creating more barriers to trade for Nova Scotia producers.

"NAFTA is key to Canada's trade with the U.S. and of course Nova Scotia, as an exporting province with over $4 billion of exports that go just to the U.S., [cancelling NAFTA] would have a significant impact on Nova Scotia immediately," Sullivan told CBC's Information Morning.

Even so, cancelling NAFTA is a "remote possibility," he said, not least because both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are controlled by Republicans, who traditionally support free trade.

Sullivan said a Clinton victory would likely mean "business as usual" for free trade agreements and financial markets overall.

Nonetheless, even if Trump doesn't win, Sullivan said protectionism and suspicion of free trade agreements are increasing across borders and party lines, and will have to be addressed at some point.

As an example of how entrenched this suspicion has become, he said Canadians need look no farther than CETA, the agreement between Canada and Europe that was nearly derailed before being approved.

In the short term, he said Tuesday night will be an anxious one for Nova Scotians watching to see how they'll be affected by ballots cast south of the border.

"I will be glued to [election coverage]; I've been glued to it for months," he said. "Anything that has this great an impact on Canada, on Nova Scotia, we should be watching."