What's the meaning of “local” here?

Solution 1:

Your friend probably meant locale:

a place or locality especially when viewed in relation to a particular event or characteristic

It sounds similar but distinctly different. Maybe your friend got confused, or you heard it wrong.

Solution 2:

It certainly is a possibility that the person from England said or meant to say locale, in the sense of a scene or place (1, 2), although it is somewhat odd, clumsy, and unusual to refer to a large country like Canada as a locale. Perhaps the person was attempting to make a joke, using local in the UK sense of “One's nearest or regularly frequented public house or bar” and implying that all of Canada is a bar or saloon. (That usage also would be odd, clumsy, and unusual.)

Solution 3:

I would think he meant to say 'locale'.