Held during the Greek Foreign Minister official visit to Canada, the event was an opportunity to celebrate the Hellenic diaspora and showcase the long-standing partnership between Canada and Greece, as it highlighted the strong cultural, economic, political, but also personal, ties between the two countries.

THI Canada’s Co-President John Sotos and Directors Katerina Sokou and Elias Retsinas joined esteemed members of the Greek community of Montreal in welcoming the Greek Foreign Minister, who noted that “I am very proud to be here today, among the Greek community, among my compatriots, and be able to see how the two worlds, the Canadian and the Greek, are being combined around the same values, around the same principles”.

In his welcome address, John Sotos highlighted that as a distinctly Canadian member of the THI family and a registered charity in Canada, THI Canada supports a range of projects in Greece, from support to the elderly to basic needs such as meals for school children and assistance to victims of wildfires. Furthermore, THI Canada (the only participating charity not based in Greece) joins a group of leading local foundations funding small-scale civil society initiatives under the leadership of the Bodassaki Foundation.

In his welcome address, John Sotos highlighted that as a distinctly Canadian member of the THI family and a registered charity in Canada, THI Canada supports a range of projects in Greece, from support to the elderly to basic needs such as meals for school children and assistance to victims of wildfires. Furthermore, THI Canada (the only participating charity not based in Greece) joins a group of leading local foundations funding small-scale civil society initiatives under the leadership of the Bodassaki Foundation.

He added that THI Canada is proud to support the Toronto Economic Forum in partnership with the prestigious Delphi Economic Forum to help expand bilateral trade and investment, building on Canada’s position as the second largest foreign investor in Greece. Wishing to contribute to the economic renewal in Greece and the reversal of the brain drain, he announced that THI Canada is planning to launch graduate level scholarships for Greek students to study in Canada in areas of leading-edge technologies or of specific interest to the Greek society.

John Sotos expressed the wish of the Greek community for a long overdue visit of the Greek Prime Minister to Canada, and invited Minister Joly and everyone attending to join the fundraiser that THI Canada is planning on May 25th in Montreal. So please save the date – we hope to see you all then and look forward to continuing our work with partnerships and events that support our mission, while celebrating the shared values and heritage between Canada and Greece.