Canada poured US$10B in direct investments into the US in 2014, according to new research from CBRE. That puts us ahead of Norway, China, Japan and Germany. (All we're asking is for a nice thank-you note.) Of the total $41B in foreign direct investment in US real estate last year, Canadian investors accounted for 26%. There's no indication things are slowing; Canadian investors did $2.75B in US real estate deals as of mid-January, including Ivanhoé Cambridge’s $2.2B acquisition with Callahan Capital Properties of Manhattan’s Three Bryant Park office property.

The US is “by far” the largest destination for Canadian global capital, CBRE says, with 44% of the $22B Canada invested outside its borders in 2014 going to the States (to compare: 14% of Canuck cash went to the UK; 17% went to Australia). The resurgent US economy is a factor driving Canadian investment south of the border, as are exchange rates, notes CBRE’s Ross Moore, “but the overriding motivation is that Canadian institutional investors need to look beyond their borders to find product and achieve greater diversification.”