Lehi Williamson, founder and chief executive officer of the Canada Arizona Business Council, told the Arizona Legislature's International Trade Committee that Canadian capital and companies have a substantial footprint in the state and that long-term planning for water and energy is needed to sustain future investment.

Williamson said Canadian companies directly employ about 46,800 people in Arizona and that more than 500 Canadian firms operate in the state with roughly 1,500 locations statewide. He described tourism and snowbird residency as additional channels of economic connection, saying roughly 100,000 houses in Arizona are owned or occupied by Canadians for part of the year and assigning a notional value of about $1.7 billion to that housing activity as cited in his remarks.

CABC's founder highlighted several large transactions connected to Canadian capital that he said the council helped facilitate: the Bank of Montreal's acquisition of M&I Bancorp (cited as about $4.1 billion), a subsequent Bank of the West deal (cited as about $16.3 billion) and Fortis's acquisition of Tucson Electric Power (cited as about $2.5 billion). Williamson said Canadian pension plans and institutional investors control large pools of capital that can be directed toward U.S. infrastructure and projects.

Williamson emphasized three constraints Canadian investors tell him are top of mind: aging energy infrastructure (he described much of the state's energy grid as dating to the 1970s), aging water infrastructure (he referenced 1940s-era dams and systems) and an insufficient workforce of tradespeople. "We have to be investing large sums of money going forward," Williamson told committee members. "What we're lacking is decision making and leadership to make those decisions and to pull the trigger and do it and stop analyzing."

Representatives on the committee praised Canadian investment but also probed Williamson about risks such as eminent-domain concerns and community opposition to transactions involving utilities and infrastructure. Williamson said many Canadian firms already invest heavily in Arizona utilities and mining, naming companies and sectors that the council engages.

On trade and tourism, Williamson said roughly 822,000 Canadians visit Arizona annually and that the state's trade relationship with Canada has been roughly stable over the last decade. He framed the council's work as trilateral in scope, linking Arizona with Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico as well as with Canadian partners.

Williamson urged state leaders to plan on 25-year timelines for water and energy investments and described the Canada Arizona Business Council as a point of access for firms seeking to invest further in Arizona.