On May 28th, a tour of Beamsville is scheduled for the Royal couple, where King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will meet the agricultural branch among the Dutch participants of the economic mission. This visit will conclude with a high tea in the greenhouses, where the King and Queen will speak with all the originally Dutch entrepreneurs from the Canadian horticultural and horticultural sector about their experiences in Canada.

Over a million of the 34 million Canadians have ancestors from the Netherlands. After the war, the Dutch government pursued an active emigration policy because our country was in a bad economic situation. Nearly 150,000 Dutch people built a new life in Canada between 1947 and 1963.

As during other state visits by the royal couple, trade and innovation play an important role. The Netherlands is the second-largest investor in Canada after the United States. In addition to the economic mission led by Minister Ploumen, there is also a higher education mission led by Minister Bussemaker.

The economic mission focuses on solutions related to energy-efficient buildings, urban planning, digital infrastructure, soil remediation, delta and water technology and food technology. In Canada, more than 80 percent of the population lives in cities. Given the more than 250,000 immigrants Canada welcomes annually, metropolises like Toronto and Vancouver face challenges that call for sustainable and smart solutions.

On May 28th, and May 29th, the so-called matchmaking events, for which TRANSFER is thus responsible, will take place, involving over 250 targeted meetings between Dutch participants and Canadian counterparts. Friday there will also be a major seminar and workshops for the Urban and Digital Infrastructure group of the economic mission. Here, King Willem-Alexander was present as a speaker.

More information about Canada

The participating Dutch companies for which TRANSFER has set up arrangements with Canadian counterparts are active in the following sectors:

• Water (riverbank protection and development, delta and water technology, sustainable watershed management);
• Soil (efficient use of land and subsoil; soil remediation and reuse);
• Urban planning (resilient (delta) cities, urban planning, landscape and building architecture, waste management);
• Digital infrastructure (digitization of the city).
• Agri & Food and Horticulture and Raw Materials (‘Feeding the City’: food processing (technology) and food innovations, nutritional/health/sustainability solutions).

The state visit will conclude on Friday in Toronto, where the royal couple will meet the Dutch soccer players, among others. They are in Canada to compete in the World Cup for the first time. From Canada, the King and Queen will travel on to Washington for an official visit to the United States.

Toronto

The photo impression gives an impression of the group visits organized by TRANSFER and set up agreements between Dutch and Canadian companies in Toronto. 

Middle column photo above: Group photo of the Dutch delegation led by Minister Lilianne Ploumen.

Right column 2nd photo from bottom: Mission leader Hans de Boer, chairman VNO-NCW, thanks the TRANSFER team during the trade dinner with Minister Ploumen, among others, for realizing more than 250 matchmaking agreements. Here he emphasizes the quality of the talks and the basis this lays for future partnerships between Dutch and Canadian companies, active in the sectors of (sustainable) urban planning, digital infrastructure, soil remediation, delta and water technology and food technology.

Right column photo below right: During the mission, the royal couple also boosted the Dutch women’s team, which is in Canada in connection with the World Cup.

Partnerships were signed including by AAB International (for the construction of a greenhouse complex the size of 80 soccer fields), RijkZwaan (signed for a collaboration with Vineland Innovation and Research Center and the Lettuce Foundation on knowledge exchange on the nature-friendly approach to aphids), Wageningen University and GMV-Dutch Food systems (aiming to develop new technologies machines and products in the food processing industry in Canada) Dutch and Canadian ‘Green Building Councils’ (in the field of sustainable building), BAS signed no less than three agreements this week (in the field of sustainable energy) and in Vancouver a letter of intent will be signed by Cubicco International (assembly of modular houses by the originally Dutch VeenkampBC).

Vancouver

Part of the Dutch delegation continued its economic mission last weekend in Vancouver, where the Canadian Green Building Conference took place from June 2 to 4 2015. Here, Dutch companies were briefed on the latest trends in Sustainable Building in Western Canada and were also able to promote their own innovations on the British Columbian market.

On this day a city tour was organized with several visits to sustainable building projects, including a visit to the ‘Laneway’ houses. This typical Vancouver phenomenon of small houses built on private land behind the existing house stems from rising land prices and are the solution to achieve higher building density without a residential area losing its original character.

The afternoon was hosted by Dudoc (Dutch Urban Design Center). After lunch, participating companies had the opportunity to speak to Canadian counterparts in person during the matchmaking discussions set up by TRANSFER. Again, there was praise for the quality of the appointments made.

This was followed by the Sustainable Building Workshop ‘Perspectives West Canada and The Netherlands’ in cooperation with Lighthouse Sustainable building Centre, and the day ended with a networking reception (in cooperation with Vancouver Economic Commission).

Tuesday through Thursday, June 2-4: Canadian Green Building Conference

On June 2nd, the CaGBC hosted a Green Building Tour for international visitors, including a visit to Olympic Village and several LEED projects@UBC. It was followed by a welcome reception at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

On June 3rd, the Canadian Green Building Conference officially kicked off with the theme “Building Lasting Change”. The program included education sessions, an expo floor, again business-to-business meetings and keynote speakers. Participating companies were free to put together their own program in this conference, depending on their own interests. In short: An interesting and inspiring program where Dutch and Canadian technologies met and worked together for a sustainable cooperation between the two countries.

 June 4th, the last day of the mission, started with a breakfast at the Vancouver Convention Centre, after which the mission day started with a Conference program. Dutch participants were able to have matchmaking discussions with Canadian counterparts again after this.

Agreements were also signed in Vancouver by economic mission participants. Matchmaking with Canadian companies by TRANSFER led to the signing of an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Under the watchful eye of the Director of International Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rene van Hell and the Consul General in Vancouver Gert Heijkoop, Raoul Voeten of Cubbicco put his signature (assembly modular houses by the originally Dutch VeenkampBC).

Testimonies

Ms. Karin Schipper, Project Manager economic mission at RVO

“The matchmaking which the TRANSFER team carried out during the economic mission to Canada (parallel to the Royal visit) went very well. The intakes and communication with the companies were excellent. The hands-on support during the mission was also very pleasant. The meetings were of high quality and the participants were very satisfied.”

Ms. Irma Verhoeven, Communication & Branding Manager Canada & Canadian Connections at Walas Concepts Rotterdam-Vancouver

“I’ve been part of the Dutch Trade mission to Toronto and Vancouver over the last two weeks. It was very interesting and useful. I met lots of great people and promising business contacts. Many thanks to the Dutch consulate in Toronto and Vancouver. Also many thanks to Jessie Brockhoff and Gerald Baal for an excellent match making job.”

Hans de Boer, Leader Business Delegation and chairman VNO-NCW

“TRANSFER did a great job during the mission with the Royal Couple to Canada. They prepared more than 250 matchmaking appointments between the Dutch and Canadians, laying a good foundation for increasing trade and investment between our countries. I saw purely satisfied faces during the mission. Kudos therefore to the TRANSFER team.”

Jessica Taylor, Senior Business Analyst, Food and Food Systems at Bioenterprise Canada

“Thank you TRANSFER for organizing the B2B Meetings at the Feeding the City event. I would like to extend a special thank you to TRANSFER consultant Laura for getting Bioenterprise involved and setting up some very interesting meetings. I hope to see Transfer again at conferences in the future.”