Decked out in team gear and pajamas, Canadian sports fans started showing up two hours before the whistle, hoping to snag a seat.

More than 100 people squeezed onto the bar patio, the air thick with team loyalty and rivalry.

This wasn't a rough sticks game of hockey, even if the sport does run in Canadian blood. And although the afternoon had a slight chill, it wasn't in Edmonton's subfreezing temperatures.

We're talking Canadian football on cable TV in La Quinta.

“I wouldn't miss the Grey Cup, except last year when there was no signal,” said Cheryl Entwistle, a Vancouver snowbird who watched the game at the Beer Hunter.

“It's really fun to be amongst all these crazy fans. We don't know each other, but we will before the game is over.”

Entwistle calls Palm Desert home for the month she spends in the Coachella Valley every year.

Big Spenders

The Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority in Rancho Mirage estimates that roughly 81,000 Canadians visit the Coachella Valley annually, according to a 2007 survey.

They pump about $123 million into the local economy.

But those numbers only account for Canadians who fly into the valley, and are likely low, said Mark Graves, CVA spokesman.

“It's imperative that we continue our relationship with Canada,” Graves said. “It's so important to our tourism base.”

And not just here in the valley.

In 2009, 1.2 million Canadians pumped $1 billion into the California economy, according to the Canadian government.

“Canada is the largest source of tourism for California,” said Carl Hartill, Canadian consul for political-economic relations in Los Angeles.

“Certainly it's the climate, but I think California has its own cachet built up over the last 50 years, whether it's the beach or entertainment culture.”

Canadian businesses, too, like Circle K and American Medical Response, create more than
930,000 jobs across the state and generate $10.4 billion.

The mercury high in parts of Canada this week hit the low 20s. Is it any wonder a balmy 70-something degrees is a huge snowbird magnet?

“If they'd let us stay longer, we would,” said Al Fenniak, an Edmonton snowbird who winters in La Quinta.

There are no statistics on the number of second homes owned by Canadians in the valley.

Colin Solbak, of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, figures it has to be quite a number.

“It's the best place in the world to live,” said Solbak, who owns a home in Indio. “I know close to 60 people who live here from my town.”

Local Gathering

The Beer Hunter patio was green with fans last week.

Mendy Landa, of Vancouver, British Columbia, came more to people watch than root. “I come here mostly to see if I knew any Canadians more than to see the game,” the part-time Rancho Mirage resident said.

This year's contest was all too familiar for football fans complete with the Montreal Alouettes taking the win over Saskatchewan Roughriders, 21-18. Montreal nabbed the Grey Cup in the same matchup last year 28-27.

Canadian fans were unlikely to find team gear in the desert for the Grey cup championship.
Betty Klepp, of Vernon, British Columbia, shopped a 99-cent store for a green hair band she doctored with a team logo printed from the computer.

“I have green blood,” said Klepp, who is a Riders fan. “Go Riders!”

About this Series

Our Changing Valley provides new perspective on the demographic trends and rich diversity of the Coachella Valley.

Where Canadians live

Roughly 715,000 people of Canadian ancestry live in the U.S., nearly 90,000 in California, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Because the population is relatively small, the Census Bureau does not have estimates for the number living in the Coachella Valley, but about 7,300 people of Canadian ancestry live in Riverside County.

U.S. Census Bureau

Fast Facts

• 1.2 million Canadians visited California in 2009.
• 931,900 California jobs depend on the state's trade relationship with Canada.
• California trade with Canada generates $10.4 billion.
• Roughly 12 percent of California goods are sold to Canada.
• Agriculture accounts for more than a quarter of the Californian exports to Canada
  
  Canadian government