
As a prime destination for corporate and association meetings, Canada offers amazing value. With the vastness of the country, the wide range of destinations, the cultural aspects of the largest centers and the energy of secondary cities, two official languages, three oceans and four Great Lakes, any style or size of meeting can be successfully hosted. Canada is sure to inspire, educate and entertain delegates. And with the exchange rate sitting at over 30% on the US dollar, that value can't be beat!
Canada is known for its friendly population, multiculturalism, cosmopolitan and dynamic cities, and exciting and diverse culinary scenes. When it comes to safeguarding your group, Canada is one of the safest countries in the world, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. As well, Canadian cities are centers of excellence and world leaders in research, technology and innovation, giving both corporations and associations strategic reasons to hold their meetings here.
For example, the world looks to Vancouver, among other Canadian cities, for Cleantech, Toronto in the life sciences, Montréal for artificial intelligence, Saskatoon for biotech, Halifax for oceanography, Waterloo Region in digital communications and quantum computing, Calgary for oil and gas and clean energy...these are just some of the hubs of excellence that are concentrated in Canada. Aerospace, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, Cleantech, ICT, life sciences and natural resources groups can find a compelling destination tied to their subject matter in Canada. Canadian destinations are taking their moment on the world stage thanks to their industry innovations, thought-leaders, and state-of-the-art conference and event facilities.
In addition to their topical connections, Canadian cities are known to be safe, popular locations that will draw attendees from around the globe. With welcoming entry policies, excellent air access to all major locations across the country and geography that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific covering six time zones spanning 4.5 hours from coast to coast, there's a destination in Canada that's perfect for your meeting and convenient for your attendees.
Globally Important Sites
Calgary's Downtown Stephen Avenue Pedestrian WalkCalgary. One of the world’s leading centers for energy developers, Calgary is also known for agribusiness and advanced communications. A new $500 million expansion will double the size of Calgary's BMO Centre to almost one million square feet, transforming it into Canada's second-largest facility. Banff, only an hour away, is a beautiful, world-renowned destination closely linked to the city, providing an additional delegate draw.
Ottawa, Canadian Museum of CivilizationOttawa. In spite of its global importance as the capital of a G7 nation, Ottawa remains friendly and easy to navigate. The city brings together leaders in policy, research and planning with top of the line venues and suppliers, with easy access to points around the world. Consider just some of the options for meetings here: the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the National Arts Centre and Canada's Cold War Museum, not to mention access to thought leaders and innovations in digital tech, wireless networking, life sciences, autonomous vehicles, aerospace and more.

St. John’s. Innovators have led the world in deep ocean communications and natural resource extraction technologies from St. John's, in Newfoundland, an island province off the coast of Canada. The eastern-most point of North America, St. John's is teeming with one-of-a-kind venues, including The Rooms (overlooking the city harbor, one of the best vantage points in town), Yellow Belly Brewery (housed in a 19th-century building with a colorful history), The Rocket Room (above Rocket Bakery & Fresh Food). Looking for a more traditional venue? The St. John's Convention Centre is newly expanded and set in a 500-year-old city.
Historic Quebec City Québec City. Québec City is the historic heart of French culture in North America. A center for IT, agriculture and agri-food manufacturing, and life sciences, the cobblestoned streets of Québec City feature outstanding venues including Observatoire del la Capitale, the multi-faceted Morrin Cultural Centre, the Québec Convention Centre, not to mention the most photographed hotel in the world, the iconic Fairmont Chateau Frontenac. With the appeal of a European city without the long-haul flights or expense of Europe, Québec City offers the perfect blend of old-world charm and new-world, modern meeting facilities.

Montreal Guarantees Your Success
Building on being named #1 in North America for hosting international events, Business Events Montréal has announced the
Guaranteed Success Pledge. This “first of its kind” pledge ensures your meeting’s success by promising to honor the financial commitments associated with your target number of attendees. It also promises your organization will receive the most favorable exchange rate between the time of booking and the event date at the Palais des Congrès, and that carbon neutrality will be achieved at the convention center. Montréal is one of the world’s strongest draws for event attendance, giving Business Events Montréal the confidence to offer these financial guarantees, while taking some worry off your plate.

Cool Canada Facts
* Canada's forests could fill all of Japan, Italy, Cambodia, Nicaragua, France, Germany, Ghana, Cameroon, Sweden, South Korea, Uruguay and the UK. In fact, Canada has a national park — Wood Buffalo National Park — that's larger than the entire country of Switzerland.
* 75% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border.
* Canada has 172 billion barrels of proven crude-oil reserves, or 7.22 trillion gallons, the third-largest in the world.

A Breath of Fresh Air in Edmonton
Edmonton Convention Centre has created and committed to a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan that will significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The effort is part of the Convention Centre’s participation in the city of Edmonton’s Corporate Climate Leaders Program, which helps corporations take action on climate change. Implementation of the plan will begin in January 2020.

The Best of the Best
Destination Canada Business Events recently won a silver
2019 STELLA Award for the category “Best Convention & Visitors Bureau/Destination Marketing Organization, International and US Territories region.” The prestigious award recognizes providers that consistently deliver quality service and innovation to meeting and events professionals. Finalists in each category are determined by industry professionals during an open voting period, while winners are selected by an expert panel of judges. To be a Stella winner indicates that a provider’s product is the best of the best.
Industry Leading Locales
Edmonton. In this festival city and capital of Alberta, Edmonton's key industries — agriculture and agrifood processing, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, robotics, energy and sustainability, and digital tech — convene with industry and thought leaders in two of the city's sustainably operated convention centers. Meanwhile, before, after or in-between conference sessions, delegates can explore the Ice District, the country's largest entertainment district, or historic Strathcona and Whyte Avenue, and the city's burgeoning craft brewery scene.
Canadian Museum for Human RightsWinnipeg. Meeting planners reap the rewards when they meet in in Winnipeg, thanks to the newly expanded convention center (making it the fourth-largest in Canada!) and only-in-Canada offsite meeting venues. Here, organizations in aerospace, agriculture and digital technologies can network with Canadian industry and thought leaders at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, have cocktails with polar bears at Assinboine Park Zoo or take in a group performance of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Winnipeg's central location gives it an edge when it comes to accessibility.
Fredericton. Known for its leadership in cybersecurity, Fredericton is home to the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity at the University of New Brunswick. The small-town sensibility here, combined with urban infrastructure, is a winning combination. Your group will appreciated the mix of activities: historical, cultural, techie and natural.
Halifax Convention CenterHalifax. The largest city on Canada’s Atlantic coast, Halifax is known for marine and oceanographic research and higher education. A center of excellence for life sciences, ocean sciences and aerospace defense, Halifax is home to Canada's newest convention center, just 100 steps from the ocean. When groups meet here, they can walk in the footsteps of history at the Canada Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 or dine in regimental style atop the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, a 19th-century fort built by the British, overlooking the city and harbor below.

Robin Thompson
Business Events Leader
Business Events Canada has announced an evolution of its business events strategy in the US market. Robin Thompson will lead its US corporate and incentive market from her San Francisco Bay Area office. Thompson has covered the western US corporate and incentive market for Destination Canada for some 20 years and is an invaluable resource when it comes to considering Canada for your meetings and incentives events. Planners are encouraged to connect with her when they’re seeking impartial insights, introductions to industry partners, or assistance with facilitating an RFP. She can be contacted at 415-388-3022; robin.thompson@businesseventscanada.ca
Canadian Culinary Experiences
An unhurried meal. An unforgettable setting. Ingredients representing the diversity of Canadian land and sea. These are ingredients that create long-lasting memories for an incentive winner. Whether it’s dining under the Northern Lights, at a longtable dinner served down on the farm, or at a traditional Canadian kitchen party, when you host your incentives in Canada you’re in for a flavorful experience.
Learn more here. Leveraging Montréal's Life Sciences
An innovation hot spot with a critical mass of industry leadership, talent and post-secondary institutions, Montréal leads research and development across the full spectrum of life sciences. Thanks to its depth of expertise in neurology, Montréal has been chosen as the host location of the World Congress of Neurology (WCN). The city will welcome more than 7,000 neurologists from all over the world in October 2023.
Read more here.
Incentive Travel Excellence
Vancouver is set to welcome the Society of Incentive Travel Excellence Global Conference, January 24 - 27, 2020. Designed to spark creativity, dialogue and engagement, the 2020 event will welcome 500 incentive professionals from around the world to shape the future of the incentive industry.
Learn more here. Centers of Excellence
Victoria. The capital of British Columbia sits offshore on Vancouver Island and is a hub of technology development, marine research and tourism. Called by some “Canada’s Smartest City,” Victoria has the resources to mount a top‐notch meeting. Events at the Royal BC Museum, Craiggdarroch Castle or Butchart Gardens are out of the box and out of this world.
Waterloo. The home of one of the world’s top technology universities, the Waterloo region benefits from its close proximity to Toronto and six nearby US border crossings. With an international leading institute for quantum physics, Google's largest North American R&D lab, this city is home to 30,000 tech pros. Often called “Silicon Valley North,” the Waterloo region is a hotbed for innovation and an emerging meeting location attracting conferences in the digital tech sector at venues such as the newly opened Lot 42 global flex campus, heritage mills, urban conference centers and more.

Saskatoon. This prairie city is a leader in agriculture and health sciences and research, situated within the world’s greatest grain‐producing region. Saskatoon is home to the Canadian Light Source, a synchrotron light source, whose researchers collaborate with scientists the world over in projects related to food sustainability, life sciences, crop sciences and more. Further, the Global Institute for Water Security is headquartered here, attracting researchers, scientists and their global conferences.
For more information on the countless options for business and associations meetings in Canada, visit www.businesseventscanada.ca


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Vancouver Convention Center
Canada on the World Stage
*Toronto is North America's second-largest life sciences cluster.
*Vancouver is ranked the 3rd-greenest city in the world, making it a natural choice for conferences in the sustainability space.
*Canada is the first country in the world to adopt a national artificial intelligence strategy, an indicator of their global leadership in the AI race.
New in Niagara Falls
In an effort to triple the Hyatt presence in Canada, the Hyatt Place Niagara Falls will be one of three Hyatt properties set to open in Niagara Falls in 2022. This 200-room hotel, designed to provide “Select Service for the Most Selective,” will be connected to the award-winning Scotiabank Convention Centre, while enjoying easy access to numerous attractions and entertainment options.
As well, part of a dual-branded new build property (with the Hyatt Centric Niagara Falls) will be the Hyatt Regency Niagara Falls. The Regency line is aimed at the business traveler; this will be the first of the brand in Canada. It will boast 350 guest rooms with close proximity to Fallsview Casino, the Skylon Tower and a new 5,000-seat performing arts centre currently under construction.

JW Marriott Debuts in the Heart of Edmonton
Marriott International Inc., announced the opening of the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District. Located in the heart of downtown Edmonton, JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District offers a fresh and welcoming take on luxury and will feature modern guest rooms, specialty wellness programs, enriching dining experiences, and 22,000 sq. ft. of meeting and conference spaces, which have been named after iconic Edmonton Oilers Alumni. The hotel is home to a comprehensive wellness facility, including Spa by JW, Edmonton’s only full-service luxury hotel spa, and Archetype, a state-of-the-art fitness club.
Ottawa and The Hague Form Historic Partnership
The mayors of Ottawa and The Hague, Netherlands, have signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding to bring the two cities’ convention services and offerings closer together, forming a strong partnership designed to help both the cities and their clients. The municipalities will cooperate on joint sales activities, research and intelligence documents addressing specific business sectors critical to the destinations, and the identifying of clients, historic and potential, who could be interested in one or both cities. This partnership builds on 75 years of friendship, growing out of the support Canada, and Ottawa specifically, gave the Dutch Royal Family and the Netherlands as a whole during the Second World War.