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Taoiseach to meet Prime Minister Trudeau on official visit to Canada

Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar will this Sunday begin a three day official visit to Montreal and Toronto. The visit will commence with a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau in Montreal.

In Toronto, the Taoiseach will carry out a number of engagements focussed on growing trade opportunities between Ireland and Canada. This will include addressing the Ireland Canada Chambers of Commerce and a series of meetings with IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland client companies and representatives.

The Taoiseach will turn the sod on a new park in Toronto in memory of Dr George Robert Grasett, who tended to Irish famine victims on their arrival in Canada in the late 1840s. He will also be briefed on customs arrangements at the US/Canadian border.

On invitation of the Canadian Prime Minister, the Taoiseach will also join Mr Trudeau at the Montreal Pride Parade.

Speaking ahead of the visit, The Taoiseach said:

I had the pleasure of welcoming Prime Minister Trudeau to Ireland early last month when we discussed a number of issues concerning Irish and Canadian relations. This return visit to Canada offers the opportunity to deepen the very important bilateral relationship between our two countries, a process that will be further accelerated through the CETA trade deal which comes into effect in September.

In the context of Brexit, it is more important than ever that the Irish Government seeks to expand our markets overseas and strengthen our relationships with major trading partners. In Toronto and Montreal I will meet with political and business leaders to further explore investment and tourism opportunities for Ireland. I also look forward to meeting with members of the Irish community in both cities and representatives of the emigrant support services that do such excellent work on their behalf.