Welcome to the Ireland Canada Business Association
The Ireland Canada Business Association (ICBA) was founded in 1978 with the mandate of promoting and developing trade and industrial links between Ireland and Canada. The organisation is a non-profit bilateral trade association (effectively acting as a quasi chamber of commerce). The Patron of the Association is the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Patrick G. Binns.
The Association's members are typically drawn from a wide range of Irish and Canadian firms from the financial services, manufacturing and services sectors with operations in Canada or Ireland.
An important aim of the Association for the coming year is to facilitate interaction among members with networking events of the highest calibre.
 Featured Patron Member - Profile
Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada’s largest full-service airline and the largest provider of scheduled passenger services in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. trans-border market and in the international market to and from Canada.
In Ireland, Air Canada operates a direct seasonal daily flight programme between Dublin and Toronto from May through September and in conjunction with its Star Alliance partner bmi provides connections from both Dublin and Belfast via London Heathrow to all major cities across Canada.
Montreal based Air Canada has an extensive global network, with hubs in four major Canadian cities (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary), providing scheduled passenger service directly to 58 Canadian cities, 57 destinations in the United States
and 54 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada and its regional affiliate Jazz operate approximately 1,375 scheduled flights each day on average.
Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, providing the world's most comprehensive air transportation network for Canadian domestic, transborder and international travel. Customers can collect Aeroplan miles for future rewards through
Canada’s leading loyalty programme.
In 2007, Air Canada began introducing ultramodern, fuel-efficient Boeing 777 jets on international routes.. This year, Air Canada will have concluded its major fleet-wide refurbishment, consisting of all new seats,industry-leading seat-back personal entertainment systems with hundreds of hours of movies, TV programmes and music available on demand.
Readers of Business Traveler magazine in 2008 voted Air Canada “Best In-Flight Services in North America,” “Best Airline for Business Class Service in North America” and “Best North American Airline for International Travel.”
Air Canada’s Dublin office can be contacted on 01 6793958.
www.aircanada.com
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NEWSFLASH
Does Canada Have the Answer?
Simon Carswell, The Irish Times, 4th September 2009
 Royal Bank of Canada’s chief executive Gordon Nixon explains how the conservativeness of Canadian banking has given them the reserves to cope with the world recession
FEW BANK chief executives in the current financial climate have the opportunities facing Gordon Nixon. As head of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the country’s largest bank, and the second longest-serving bank chief executive in the world (after Josef Ackermann at Deutsche Bank), Nixon’s years of conservative banking have left the lender well poised to take advantage of the global financial crisis.
Canada’s tradition of fiscal conservativeness, prudent lending, strict regulatory requirements on setting aside capital for the bad times and a stable property market meant the country’s banks avoided the excesses of global banking that damaged rivals around the globe.
read more >>
| NEWSFLASH ARCHIVE |
Canadian Banking System deemed healthiest in the world
Source: Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek © 2009
read more >>
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| PATRON'S ADDRESS |
 Patron of Ireland Canada Business Association
Patrick G. Binns, Ambassador to the Embassy of Canada in Dublin
On behalf of the Embassy of Canada in Ireland and as the Patron of the Ireland Canada Business Association (ICBA), I am pleased to welcome you to this website.
Relations between Ireland and Canada have always been close - with approximately four million Canadians claiming Irish ancestry. While family ties form the basis of these relations, shared values and interests between our two countries have further strengthened the Canada-Ireland relationship, particularly in meeting the challenges of domestic and global governance. There is a growing dialogue, increased cooperation and sharing of "best practices" in areas such as education, parliamentary reform, healthcare, and in other social and economic policies.
Trade between the two countries totalled nearly Cdn $2.5 billion in 2008, complemented by a growing number of bilateral research and development initiatives, investment projects and joint ventures. A Blue Skies air agreement signed between Ireland and Canada in April 2007 now allows Canadian and Irish air carriers to provide services between any city in Canada and Ireland – resulting in a 15% increase in air travel last year.
The Embassy of Canada views the ICBA as an important ally, particularly as it strives to promote Canada as a globally competitive location and partner for investment, innovation and value-added production. Irish companies who are looking for a key entry point into the North America Free Trade Agreement market will find Canadian cities to be among the most cost competitive production locations in the world, while Canadian firms looking for a springboard into Europe, the Middle East and Africa will also find key advantages in Ireland.
If you are interested in further exploring this commercial relationship, I would encourage you to contact the Canadian Embassy, which has a team of dedicated Trade Commissioners that can assist you, as well as the ICBA which can expose you to a valuable network of professionals who have experience in doing business with Canada.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to wish the Ireland Canada Business Association every success as it endeavours to carry out an ambitious program of activities this year.
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FOUNDATION / PATRON MEMBERS
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| RECENT EVENTS |
July 1st, 2009
Canada Day Business Luncheon - Official Residence of Canadian Ambassador
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