Iceland’s President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and First Lady Eliza Reid will be on an official visit to Canada May 29 to June 1 at the invitation of Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon. It will be Iceland’s first official state visit to Canada since 2000 and has the goal of further strengthening the two countries’ good relations. Eliza is Canadian, born and raised in the country’s capital Ottawa.
The presidential couple will be accompanied by a delegation including Minister of Trade, Culture, and Tourism Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, and a number of representatives from Iceland’s business community, who intend to strengthen cooperation with Canada in the fishing industry, health technology, and the use of green energy.
The visit will begin in Eliza’s hometown of Ottawa, where the President and First Lady will meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon. Among the topics on their agenda are Iceland and Canada’s common interests, including language preservation in small language communities and youth public health.
In Ottawa, Eliza and Canadian author Whit Fraser (also Mary Simon’s husband) will hold a literary event titled “Stories from the North,” where they will talk to Canadian authors about the literary heritage of the two nations.
The visit will end in Toronto, where the President and First Lady will meet with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. There, Business Iceland will also host an event bringing together Canadian investors and Icelandic businesses, where the President will address the guests.
Iceland and Canada celebrated the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations last year.
