BANGOR – Maine companies looking to expand their business are being encouraged by fellow Mainers to consider the Canadian Maritimes, particularly St. John, New Brunswick, as a place to go.

With similar cultures, work ethics and environments, and a favorable currency exchange rate, the attraction to set up shop east of Maine’s border or partner with a company there is strong. The hard part could be found in tackling an international expansion.

At a conference Thursday sponsored by the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, businesses were given tips on what they should do when considering an expansion into Canada. They also were told not to have high expectations about immediate sales growth once they open their businesses’ doors.

Greg O’Donnell, president of Maine Value and Fitting Co., based in Bangor, said overall operating costs, including office space rents, are about the same in Bangor and St. John. What would entice a business to move to St. John, he said, is the Canadians’ “far superior work force” that includes a greater number of workers with a college education.

Wages in New Brunswick are lower than in Maine, he said, and the province does not have as much of a problem with underemployment, or people earning less than what their education or skill levels are worth, as Maine. O’Donnell used numerous province- and state-compiled figures to emphasize his point.

Maine businesses should look to St. John as the gateway to Canada, particularly the Maritimes and Quebec, and St. John businesses should view the Bangor area as a place to locate and use as a gateway to the rest of the Northeast, O’Donnell said.

New Brunswick is Maine’s biggest trading partner, with $1.4 billion in exports from New Brunswick into Maine, and $304 million from Maine to New Brunswick, said Wade Merritt, director of the Maine International Trade Center’s Bangor office.

He said he was surprised that Maine companies have not looked to Canada as a place to invest in the same way that Canadian firms, such as McCain Inc. and Irving Ltd., have chosen Maine.