Calgary: Wanted, more investors from China

One reason for the change has been Canada's wariness over changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Trump administration is pushing for changes to NAFTA, a free trade agreement (FTA) between Canada, Mexico and the US.

"Canada has leaned on NAFTA for a long time. About 70 percent of Canadian exports go to the US and 98 percent of energy exports head to the US," added Houlden.

"It we could get a free trade agreement with China it would help to break down some of the barriers between the countries," he continued. Canada and China have just finished exploratory talks on an FTA and Houlden expects the two nations to open formal negotiations soon.

Support for an FTA with China has grown from 36 percent in 2014 to 55 percent in 2017, according to a survey commissioned by the Asia Pacific Foundation.

Calgary with a population of 1.47 million is the fourth-largest city in Canada and has the highest GDP per capita in the country. Yin said the area has become a magnet for major business operations with 134 of 500 Canadian headquarters based in Calgary.

Calgary has young demographics with an average age of 36.4. It is a very diverse metro area as minorities make up about 28 percent of the population.

Calgary also has a skilled work force according to Mar. The oil and gas companies employed skilled personnel like software engineers.

"There are a lot of creative and smart people who like living in Calgary," he said. "People are not moving away from Alberta. After they lost their jobs, many were snapped up by other businesses that need their skills."

Yin believes that this offers a solid foundation for Calgary to attract FDI to expand several key sectors in Calgary and Alberta's economy: agriculture and agribusiness, alternative and clean energy technology, financial and professional services and real estate.