INTERNATIONAL CONNECTION
The Detroit skyline is shown from a rooftop in the Walkerville neighbourhood of Windsor. The border cities’ long history of culture and commerce could be put to the test with an escalating trade war between the United States and Canada.
From his 10th floor office downtown, Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert can look across the Detroit River, see into Windsor, and spot opportunity.
For Gilbert, founder of mortgage giant Quicken Loans, Windsor was a key component in Detroit’s proposal last year to become the second North American headquarters for e-commerce giant Amazon. Canada’s immigration laws enable tech workers to locate in Windsor and collaborate in real time with U.S. counterparts, along with other advantages.
In Gilbert’s effort to land Amazon’s second headquarters, Windsor offered not only more riverfront real estate for offices, but a connection to skilled workers from Canada — and around the globe. One of four Windsorites is foreign-born, a result of Canada’s more liberal work permit and immigration policies.
“As a bustling cross-border urban agglomeration, Detroit-Windsor provides a unique environment to innovate, attract talent and think globally,” the Amazon bid book declared.
The proposal also highlighted the Canadian government’s new fast-track work permit program for highly skilled immigrants with approvals in just two weeks. Yet Amazon ultimately passed on Detroit and Windsor. Gilbert, visibly disappointed by the decision, said Amazon did not even do a formal scouting trip here. “They didn’t come and visit,” he said. “Give me a few hours with anybody, and I’ll get us in the race. Nothing on video or paper is going to ever do it for you.”
Most of all, Gilbert disputes the notion that the Detroit-Windsor region lacks a sufficient talent pool for a firm such as Amazon. “There’s tons of talent. Especially with Ontario, those jobs would be not an issue,” he said. Many of the cross-border opportunities highlighted in the Amazon bid underscored the economic and workforce links between Detroit and Windsor, and how the cities depend on each other. Nearly 7,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in wages are on the line for Windsor and Essex County.
U.S. President Donald Trump wants to crack down on labour mobility and slash the number of visas his country hands out under the North American Free Trade Agreement. If he gets his way, the result could be devastating for the 6,700 Essex County residents who commute daily across the border for work.
From hospitals to production lines, said immigration lawyer Maria Fernandes, the drastic reduction or elimination of Treaty NAFTA (TN) visas would also create havoc in Metro Detroit She has been telling clients to have a backup plan and explore other visas, which are more difficult and take much longer to obtain, in case things go sideways. “From an economic standpoint, I think it would hit Windsor-Essex pretty hard, because these people overnight would be stopped from going over to the States to earn their livelihood,” said Fernandes. “On the other hand, who is going to create the products and provide the services that these people were providing? Replacing them overnight is pretty hard to do. It would be a mess on both sides of the border.”
With the threat of frosty U.S./ Canada relations, devastating trade tariffs and tense NAFTA negotiations causing ripples across the globe, no one is more aware of what’s at stake than the residents of Windsor and Detroit.
The volume of travellers, trade and commercial goods that cross the border is staggering. About 11,000 trucks and 15,000 cars cross every day, along with $1.6 million in trade every single minute. According to the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corp., 40 per cent of two-way trade between Ontario and the U.S., and 25 per cent of Canada-U.S. bilateral trade, crosses the Windsor Detroit border.
“The continued co-operation and integration, especially in the manufacturing sector, is creating a lot of prosperity on both sides,” said Rakesh Naidu, COO of the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corp.
DAILY COMMUTERS
Also of vital importance to both border cities, but often overlooked, is the impact of daily commuters. According to 2016 Statistics Canada figures, 6,695 Essex County residents crossed the border daily to work in Metro Detroit. There are also 615 people from southeastern Michigan who commute daily to the Windsor area, according to the 2010 U.S. census.
The number of TN visas the U.S. government issues under the North American Free Trade Agreement has steadily increased from 9,548 in 2009 to 16,119 in 2017. Canadians crossed into the U.S. using TN visas a total of 623,067 times in 2017, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Since 2014, Canadians have made a total of 2,652,919 NAFTA work commutes to the U.S. “There is a lot that is happening,” said Naidu. “Commuters are just one part of the whole economic impact that is influenced by the co-operation between the two regions. But by no means it is a small impact.”
There is no research on the exact economic value that cross-border commuting brings to Windsor. But to get a glimpse of what is at stake, consider that using only Essex County’s median income of $59,000 would translate into more than $395 million a year in just wages. Naidu said that would be “on the conservative side.” Canadian commuters spend about $70,000 a day just to cross the border, he said.
“Quite clearly, it’s benefiting both regions,” said Naidu. “If you think of the 6,700 that are crossing over there, they ’re working, they ’re paying the state taxes and the other taxes there. And they’re coming back and they’re paying the taxes on this side.”
The Canadians are also filling a huge need in the U.S. in a range of professions including nurses, engineers and university professors. Chris McNamara, a dual citizen who lives in Windsor and teaches at the University of Michigan, said that long-standing symbiotic relationship helped form the identity of both cities.
“I like having this connectedness to two places,” he said. “I don’t know if I’d want to be in Windsor if it didn’t have this duality where Detroit was available across the river. “Both cities, their identity is kind of seen as a border community. I know Detroit is a lot bigger, of course. But it’s still a border city and I think Detroiters have an awareness of that in the same way Windsorites do. It’s sort of part of our collective psyche.”
General Motors alone has about 385 Canadians working in southeastern Michigan.
Other companies were less forthcoming. Fiat Chrysler spokesman Michael Palese said the number of Canadians it has working in the U.S. is “confidential.” Ford Motor Company did not respond to a request for information. Henry Ford Health Centre also did not respond to information requests, but Naidu said a fifth of the hospital’s employees are Canadian.
“Think of how we are helping Henry Ford Hospital,” he said. “They have roughly 1,500 nurses. About 300 of those are from the Windsor-Essex area. Think of the impact we are making.”
The relationship is so vital to Henry Ford that the hospital hosts jobs fairs in Windsor. “Windsor and Detroit kind of have a unique situation,” said Windsor’s Katy Konrad, an intensive care nurse at Henry Ford Hospital, whose boss is also Canadian. “Most of the United States is not like this. Those hospitals really do need Canadian nurses. They’re always hiring, and we fill a lot of that need.” For the Windsorites filling those needs, there are many benefits apart from the paycheque. Konrad’s commute is shorter than what many people living in Detroit’s suburbs contend with. Henry Ford Hospital is about 13 kilometres from her home in South Walkerville.
On a good day, it takes 20 minutes door to door. She also cherishes the safety and lower cost of smaller town living in Windsor, while still having access to Detroit’s jobs and amenities.
“I love the city,” Konrad, 26, said of Detroit. “There’s a ton of people who have my same lifestyle, who live over here and work over there. It’s been nothing but a positive experience. It’s kind of a different culture. I know it’s just across the border, but it really is. It’s been a great experience for me just to see that difference, to live it.” McNamara, who works in Ann Arbor, also believes he has the best of both worlds.
“Ann Arbor is a pretty special place,” he said. “I really like it there. There are lots of opportunities to do things there. I bring my family a fair amount to take advantage of what it has to offer. But I also like living in a place like Windsor where things are a little less complicated.”
TRADE WAR BREWING
After decades of mutually beneficial trade and co-operation, things are suddenly getting complicated. An all-out trade war is looming. U.S. president Donald Trump has slapped punishing tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel. Canada retaliated with $16.6 billion in countermeasures scheduled to take effect July 1 on hundreds of items, from flat-rolled steel and alloy wire to beer kegs and sleeping bags. Trump is now threatening a 25 per cent tariff on automotive imports. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told the Commons international trade committee that the “absurd and insulting ” U.S. action will meet with a firm response. She said the government has finished consulting with Canadians on its proposed list of American consumer goods and will be making some tweaks on which ones will be slapped with new duties. “We will be using that feedback to modify the list,” she said. “We will not escalate, and we will not back down.”
There is no date set to restart stalled NAFTA talks as Trump insists on reworking the deal and pushes to slash the number of visas the U.S. grants, potentially putting thousands of local jobs at risk. “It’s created a situation of uncertainty as the NAFTA process is unfolding,” said immigration lawyer Eddie Kadri. “Most of it has been very public. That uncertainty, unfortunately, is affecting both sides of the border. Obviously, NAFTA is still in place. But not knowing what a future agreement may or may not be, it certainly has its challenges for people that are working within it.” The U.S. president launched another trade tirade against Canadians, accusing them this week of sneaking their American shopping back home — all because of what he calls “massive” tariffs on American goods.
Speaking to a gathering of small business owners in Washington, Trump again blasted the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the U.S. can no longer afford to be the “stupid country.” Canada imposes such onerous tariffs on U.S. products — shoes, for instance — that people are forced to “scuff ’em up” in order to “smuggle” them home, the president said, seemingly confusing tariffs with duties.
Trump said he’s looking out for American farmers and manufacturers, as he again took issue with Canada’s supply management system for dairy farmers.
“We can no longer be the stupid country; we want to be the smart country,” he said to rousing applause.
The prevailing hope among commuters and immigration professionals is that the threats will just turn out to be posturing and bluster.
“At this point, it sounds like it’s more rhetoric than any hard and fast policy changes,” said Laurie Tannous, an immigration lawyer, University of Windsor adjunct professor and special adviser to the Cross-Border Institute. “But we’re always waiting by the seat of our pants to see what will come next.”
It’s been nothing but a positive experience. It’s kind of a different culture. I know it’s just across the border but it really is.
Trevor Wilhelm is a reporter with The Windsor Star. twilhelm@postmedia.com JC Reindl is a reporter with The Detroit Free Press jcreindl@freepress.com