More Canadians Moving To Triangle

"Once you lived through the long winters and the brutal cold, it's not something I want to rush back to," he said.

Seymour feels right at home in the Triangle. More than 50 percent of Carolina Hurricanes players are from Canada. Around 340,000 snowbirds a year now come to the state to visit. Others are leaving Canada altogether and relocating to the Raleigh area.

There's no real way to track how many Canadians live in the Triangle, but a local Canadian Organization, CanSouth, has gone from a handful of members to more than 600 in just four years. In 2005, Canada even opened a consulate here.

"We feel like this is where the growth is going and is taking place and is going to continue to take place," said Consul Louis Boisvert.

Toronto's Susan Rennie had a choice of locations to work, and she chose Cary.

"For someone like myself, this is great," said Rennie. "I can take courses at the university in the evening, I can enjoy the nature and I have a thriving interesting career, so what more could I want?"

Maybe more Canadians here? It could happen. Rennie says a Stanley Cup win has many north of the border emailing CanSouth to inquire about a new southern address.

Some local companies even recruit Canadian workers. One example involves the nursing shortage. Duke Medical Center has 60 Canadian nurses, and 20 more are expected by the end of the year.