West Virginia
- 31,200 West Virginia jobs depend on trade with Canada
- 1,700 West Virginians are employed by Canadian-owned businesses
- West Virginia sells more goods to Canada than to any other country in the world
- Total Canada–West Virginia goods trade: $2.8 billion
Mustang Survival’s personal flotation device with Hydrostatic Inflator Technology keeps the Coast Guard and Law Enforcement officers safe near or on the water
Innovative lifesaving apparel
Canadian-owned Mustang Survival, a leader in the protective garment industry worldwide, houses significant operations in West Virginia. The Vancouver-based company provides lifesaving solutions and an extensive line of protective wear and accessories for people exposed to the most hazardous environments on land, in the air, and at sea.
In 1999, Mustang purchased Wirt Inflatable Specialists in Elizabeth, West Virginia, and began not only employing American workers, but also supplying American clients — chief amongst them the United States Department of Defense. A decade later, in 2009, Mustang opened its second plant in Spencer, West Virginia, adding another 70 manufacturing jobs. The majority of Mustang’s U.S. manufacturing is carried out at these two plants, while the company also purchases the bulk of its component materials from American suppliers.
Canada–U.S. automotive synergy
Buffalo, West Virginia is home to a $1.2 billion, 1.9 million square foot Toyota manufacturing plant, directly employing 1,140 West Virginians and 1,000 indirectly. Fifty-one percent (51%) of its transmissions and engines are shipped to Toyota's Southern Ontario plants. This West Virginia–Canadian synergy intensified when Toyota located its only non-Japanese-located Lexus plant in Cambridge, Ontario. Eighteen trucks per day depart West Virginia for Canada, leaving every 4–5 hours to ensure just-in-time inventory. Toyota’s supply chain relies heavily on our shared international border crossings. This relationship exemplifies the benefits of a highly integrated supply chain, attracting and retaining foreign investment in both Canada and the United States.
For more information on West Virginia’s trade with Canada, please contact:
Embassy of Canada
501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW • Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 682-1740 • Fax: (202) 682-7726
August 2012
Unless otherwise mentioned, all figures are based on 2011 data in U.S. dollars (US$1.00=C$0.9891). Statistics Canada: tourism, based on combined same-day and overnight travel (5/2012 release); goods & services trade (2/2012 release). World Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISER): Canada’s export ranking (2/2012 release). U.S. Census Bureau: trade (2/2012 release). Services trade data not available at a sub-national level. Figures may not add up due to rounding. Produced by the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.
Supplemental content
West Virginia–Canada facts
Foreign export markets
- Largest export market: Canada
- % foreign-bound goods sold to Canada: 17%
West Virginia sells more goods to Canada than to the state’s next two largest foreign markets combined
Merchandise trade
- West Virginia exports to Canada: $1.5 billion
- West Virginia imports from Canada: $1.3 billion
- Bilateral trade: $2.8 billion
Jobs*
- # jobs that depend on trade with Canada: 31,200
- # employed by Canadian-owned businesses: 1,700
* Job numbers from trade (2010 data) and Canadian-owned businesses (2009 data) are from a 2012 study commissioned by the Government of Canada
Tourism
- West Virginia visits by Canadians: 621,600, $25 million spent
- West Virginia visits to Canada: 31,700, $12 million spent
Top exports
- Engines & turbines: $516 million
- Coal: $202 million
- Plastics & plastic articles: $161 million
- Motor vehicle parts: $116 million
- Aluminum & aluminum articles: $63 million
- Optical, medical & precision instruments: $49 million
- Organic chemicals: $35 million
- Fuel oil: $30 million
- Iron & steel alloys & semi-finished products: $28 million
- Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $23 million
- Aircraft: $17 million
- Wood & semi-finished wood products: $15 million
- Stone & cement products, abrasives: $13 million
Top imports
- Organic chemicals: $340 million
- Engines & turbines: $269 million
- Plastics & plastic articles: $108 million
- Aluminum & aluminum articles: $98 million
- Paper & paperboard: $43 million
- Nickel & nickel articles: $35 million
- Rubber & rubber articles: $32 million
- Fuel oil: $18 million
- Petroleum coke & bitumen: $18 million
- Zinc & zinc articles: $17 million
- Iron & steel tubes, pipes & sheets: $15 million
- Wood pulp: $14 million
- Electric motors & generators: $14 million
West Virginia exports $1.5 billion in goods to Canada
- Equipment & machinery (42%)
- Energy (19%)
- Plastics & rubbers (11%)
- Minerals & metals (11%)
- Transportation (9%)
- Chemicals (6%)
- Other (3%)
West Virginia imports $1.3 billion in goods from Canada
- Equipment & machinery (29%)
- Chemicals (28%)
- Minerals & metals (16%)
- Plastics & rubbers (11%)
- Forest products (5%)
- Energy (3%)
- Other (7%)
