Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin on a working visit to Canada

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Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin will travel to Canada from 12 to 14 April accompanied by a high-level scientific and business delegation. At a meeting with François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Switzerland and Canada will renew a joint statement on science, technology and innovation. Further meetings to be held in Toronto and Montreal will serve to strengthen Swiss-Canadian cooperation.

Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), will travel to Canada from 12 to 14 April on a science and business mission. A range of meetings will serve to boost the already flourishing cooperation between Switzerland and Canada. The trip builds on the Swiss-Canadian Cleantech Innovation Summit held in March 2022.

On 14 April in Montreal, Mr Parmelin will renew a joint statement on science, technology and innovation with François-Philippe Champagne, Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. Furthermore, on 13 April he will be present at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Swiss Polar Institute and the Institut Nordique du Québec, which will set the foundation for a new collaboration in polar science and research. In addition, on 12 April the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) will sign a declaration of their intent to cooperate more closely going forward.

The science and business delegation will also exchange views with representatives from the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of Montreal on topics such as quantum research, artificial intelligence and health. Visits to a number of research institutes and to Novartis and ABB are also on the agenda. The Swiss delegation includes representatives from swissuniversities, the two federal institutes of technology, Innosuisse, the Swiss National Science Foundation, Economiesuisse and Swissmem.

The trip also serves to further develop trade and investment relations and explore potential in the field of innovative technologies. Cooperation on reform of the multilateral trading system, transatlantic relations in general, and economic resilience are some of the other topics that will be addressed.

Switzerland and Canada already cooperate closely in the fields of science, innovation and business, but there are still many areas in which their cooperation could be extended.