Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen will begin his visit to Canada in Ottawa by meeting with the Mayor of Canada’s capital, Mark Sutcliffe. He will next participate in a stakeholder discussion on the green transition and sustainable urban development that will bring together representatives from the City of Ottawa, universities and business life. He will also tour a local community centre for immigrants and refugees.
In Quebec, the programme includes meetings with representatives of Quebec City and the local university and business community. Meetings with the Mayor of Quebec City Bruno Marchand and the rest of his municipal team will introduce the city’s work, especially with regards to segregation prevention, work-based migration and talent attraction. Mayor Marchand visited Helsinki last March, after which he invited Mayor Vartiainen for a return visit.
In addition, Mayor Vartiainen will give a presentation to the students and faculty of Université Laval on the Helsinki City Strategy and the political and economic sustainability of the Nordic welfare state and cities. At a Mayor Marchand-hosted luncheon for Quebec business representatives, the Helsinki Mayor will speak about Helsinki’s mindfulness of sustainable development as the city grows and the city’s cooperation with the business sector.
The programme includes a visit to the Davie Shipbuilding company, also located in the province of Quebec. Meetings with the firm’s management will discuss Davie’s recent acquisition of the assets of Helsinki Shipyard. The City of Helsinki is a party to the transaction with regards to the land lease, as the City Council approved the shipyard land lease agreement on 21 June.
“Canadians are showing great interest in Helsinki, due in part to the shipyards acquisition and certainly also because of Finland’s NATO membership. This will surely open up new opportunities for cooperation in the future. The business environments of Finland and Canada are quite similar, and this also creates a good basis for cooperation between our cities. Canada’s cities are new acquaintances for Helsinki, and we hope that the collaboration spurred by this visit will pick up speed in a way that will benefit our cities’ different stakeholders,” says Mayor Vartiainen.
Finland’s Ambassador to Canada Jari Vilén and the City of Helsinki’s Head of International Affairs Laura Uuttu-Deschryvere will accompany the Helsinki Mayor during his visit. The City of Helsinki’s Economic Development Director Marja-Leena Rinkineva will also participate in the Quebec leg of the trip.