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Dear Members & Friends
As the year draws to a close, and we reflect on the many headlines of 2024, we recall the year beginning with the ongoing challenge of the cost-of-living crisis, interest rates scaling back from recent historic highs, energy prices falling in Canada and the UK, the Russia-Ukraine war continuing into its third year, the population of Canada reaching 41 million, generative AI becoming ubiquitous, the Edmonton Oilers advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Paris Olympics being called ‘A Spectacle for the Ages’, climate-induced disasters wreaking havoc worldwide from hurricanes to floods, the Israel-Gaza-Lebanon conflict escalating, the UK general election with Labour’s victory redefining British politics, provincial elections across Canada (in BC, Sask, New Brunswick, and in November the Alberta Premier winning a mandatory leadership review), Donald Trump winning the US Presidential election and set to once again reshape US politics, and we are ending with Chrystia Freeland resigning from her positions as finance minister and deputy prime minister in the Trudeau Cabinet, heightening questions about Justin Trudeau's leadership.
Demand for the Chamber’s business services in these challenging times remains as strong as ever, as our Autumn Member Survey confirmed. The Chamber is positioning itself to take advantage of the bilateral trade and investment relationship between Canada and the UK in 2025, and we will continue to promote business success stories of Canadian companies in the UK, and UK companies in Canada. We close the year with another robust membership of all business sizes and types, robust finances, and having completed 52 events in the past 12 months with nearly 4,000 registrations,10 online and 42 in person. We operate across 14 forums and have new features added to our website platform for our membership.
We have hosted and co-hosted eminent guests such as:
H.E. Ralph Goodale, Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK; Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada; The Rt Hon Lord Hunt, Minister of State at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero; Kevin Hollinrake, Minister of State, UK Dept for Business & Trade; Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland & Labrador; Siobhan Coady, Minister of Finance & Deputy Premier, Government of Newfoundland & Labrador; Jeanie McLean, Deputy Premier of Yukon & Yukon First Nations’ leadership; The Hon Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Electrification; 6 Chief Economists from Canada’s largest banks for the 15th year; business leaders such as Lisa Raitt, Vice Chair, CIBC; John McKenzie, CEO, TMX Group; Tim Richards, Founder & CEO, Vue International; Dr. Joy Johnson, President & Vice-Chancellor, Simon Fraser University and John McCall MacBain, Chair of the McCall MacBain Foundation, & Chancellor of McGill.
We will be kick-starting 2025 with a Member Engagement night on 16 January and are adding many more events to our Event Programme for Q1.
Once again we offer our sincere thanks to our members, partners and friends who have remained so very supportive of our activities.
Wishing you, your families and colleagues a safe, healthy and happy festive season ahead, and we look forward to catching up in the New Year.
Kind regards
The Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce
Nigel, Izzy, Cathrine, Charlie & Wanda
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