State trade fact sheets - Virginia
Virginia
Highlights
- 251 Canadian-owned businesses employ 15,810 workers in Virginia
- Canada is the #1 customer for most states,
including Virginia - 76% of Canadian exports to the U.S. are raw materials, parts, and components used to create other goods in the United States
- Canada sells more to Virginia than it sells to Italy

Connected to the Commonwealth
CGI, with its U.S. headquarters in Fairfax, VA, is among the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world with operations in hundreds of locations across the globe. In communities across the U.S., CGI innovators pursue bold new solutions. By harnessing emerging technologies, agile methodologies and embedded teams, CGI takes on the toughest challenges to help their clients emerge transformed. CGI’s Southwest Virginia Information Technology Center of Excellence employs nearly 400 CGI professionals in a state-of-the-art facility. Drawing skilled local talent from a feeder system of more than 30 colleges and universities, this location serves clients in the communications, financial services, government, health, manufacturing, retail and consumer services, and energy sectors.
IBI Group Designs Virginia Communities
IBI Group is a globally integrated architecture, planning, engineering, and technology firm. With over 60 offices across Canada, the U.S., the U.K., the Middle East, India, and Latin America, and more than 2,500 employees, IBI Group helps design communities with intelligent systems, sustainable buildings, efficient infrastructure, and a human touch. IBI Group is the largest Canadian architecture firm, the sixth largest architecture firm in the world, and in the top 50 engineering firms in the U.S. Headquartered in Toronto, the company’s experts collaborate on architecture, engineering, planning, systems, and technology. IBI group employs 20 people in Alexandria and helps shape the way Virginians live, work, move, learn, and evolve in the cities of tomorrow.
Volvo Truck Drives Virginia Manufacturing
Volvo’s 1.6-million-square-foot New River Valley assembly plant, located in Dublin, VA, is the largest Volvo truck manufacturing facility in the world. The New River Valley plant produces all Volvo trucks sold in North America, including the VNR, VNL, VNX, VHD and VAH models. Year over year, Virginia exports thousands of tractor-trailer trucks to Canada enabling thousands of jobs in and around Dublin.
Virginia exports $3.2 billion in goods to Canada annually
Virginia exports to Canada by industry
- Agriculture: 10%
- Apparel & textiles: 3%
- Chemicals: 5%
- Equipment & machinery: 27%
- Forest products: 9%
- Minerals & metals: 12%
- Plastics & rubbers: 11%
- Transportation: 20%
- Other: 3%
Virginia imports $2.7 billion in goods from Canada annually
Virginia imports from Canada by industry
- Agriculture: 12%
- Chemicals: 7%
- Energy: 4%
- Equipment & machinery: 27%
- Forest products: 15%
- Minerals & metals: 13%
- Plastics & rubbers: 9%
- Transportation: 6%
- Other: 7%
Top Virginia goods exports to Canada
- Tractors: $347 million
- Plastics & plastic articles: $338 million
- Paper & printing machinery: $269 million
- Paper & paperboard: $160 million
- Motor vehicle parts: $99 million
- Aluminum & aluminum articles: $88 million
- Books & printed material: $88 million
- Iron & steel alloys & semi-finished products: $85 million
- Heating, cooling & refrigeration equipment: $77 million
- Furniture & bedding: $76 million
Top Virginia goods imports from Canada
- Plastics & plastic articles: $194 million
- Paper & paperboard: $165 million
- Wood & semi-finished wood products: $110 million
- Heating, cooling & refrigeration equipment: $105 million
- Furniture & bedding: $96 million
- Softwood lumber: $95 million
- Aluminum & aluminum articles: $79 million
- Pearls, gems, precious metals & jewelry: $64 million
- Paints, pigments, varnishes, dyestuffs & inks: $60 million
- Natural gas & other gases: $59 million
Virginia exports $1.3 billion in services to Canada annually
Top Virginia services exports to Canada
- Charges for the use of intellectual property: $451 million
- Business services: $438 million
- Financial services: $148 million
- Telecommunications, compuer & information services: $100 million
- Travel (including for eduction): $96 million
Connect to our team
For more information on Virginia’s trade with Canada, please contact our trade team in Washington.
April 2022
- Unless otherwise mentioned, all figures are based on 2021 data in U.S. dollars.
- U.S. Census Bureau: goods trade, Canada’s export ranking (2/2022 release).
- The Trade Partnership: 2019 services exports (estimated, 11/2021 release).
- Dun + Bradstreet: Canadian-owned businesses (3/2022 release).
- Figures may not add up due to rounding.