Underscoring the strong business case for Irish firms to partner with Québec-based Canadian businesses, Enterprise Ireland, Ireland’s trade and innovation agency, has launched its new presence in Montréal and announced the appointment of Ève Chartrand-Dandurand to lead the initiative as Senior Market Advisor. According to Neil Cooney, Canada Country Manager, Enterprise Ireland, who made the announcement, opportunities for Irish and Canadian firms to establish strong partnerships and achieve mutual success have never been greater.
“Ireland has become a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship with specialization in important, emerging sectors such as data centers, transportation, and aviation, life sciences, and agritech. These areas of strength align well with Québec’s profile as an innovation leader and industrial powerhouse,” Cooney said. “I am pleased to launch this new presence in Montréal and I am especially pleased to welcome Ève to our team. She brings exactly the right mix of experience, expertise, and energy to advance partnerships between Irish firms and Québec-based counterparts.” The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and Europe also means the timing is right to invest more in our partnership with Canada, with benefits for Ireland and Québec based companies including tariff-free trade, easier access to procurement opportunities, and much more.
Ève Chartrand-Dandurand joins Enterprise Ireland from Desjardins where she was a Strategic Advisor. She was previously a Strategic Planning and International Business Development Manager at Opal-RT Technologies and before that, served as International Sales Manager in, Middle East, India, and Africa for Palmex International. Ève Chartrand-Dandurand holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in International affairs from the Université of Montréal (HEC Montréal).
“Québec is a unique place with a strong identity, a wonderful population and excellent businesses,” Ève Chartrand-Dandurand said today. “I see great potential to pair Irish and Québec businesses, especially in areas of shared strength such as transportation, aerospace, agritech, life sciences, and digital media. Irish businesses, Irish ideas and Irish skills can make Québec businesses even stronger, more global and more agile and I am pleased to facilitate Irish/Québec dialog. I also look forward to working closely with all our government and business partners in Québec and Ireland.”
More than 6,000 people are employed by more than 60 Irish companies operating across Canada. The companies cross a broad range of industries including, construction, education, energy, environmental engineering, medical devices, and software. Leading Irish companies operating in Canada include Keywords, ICON PLC, Kingspan, Aerogen, Aer Rianta International, iCabbi, Health Beacon, and more.
