A group of officials, parliamentarians, and businesspeople from Egypt and Canada attended the celebration, which included a farewell for the Canadian Ambassador to Cairo Louis Dumas, who assumed his duties in 2021.

The event attendees included former minister of foreign affairs and Chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Mohamed Orabi; Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hazem Omar; President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo Tamer Tawfik; President of the Canada-Egypt Business Council Motaz Raslan; Chairman of Methanex Egypt — the largest Egyptian-Canadian gas supply group — Mohamed Shendi; Egypt Ambassador in Ottawa Ahmed Hafez; and Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for North America Minister Plenipotentiary Tamim Khallaf.

During the event, Ambassador Aboul-Enein reviewed the development of Egyptian-Canadian relations, outlining various areas of cooperation in economy, politics, trade, education, and culture.

The attendees discussed promising Canadian investment opportunities in Egypt, ways to develop cooperation in education and culture, and prospects for political and economic collaboration.

For his part, Ambassador Dumas expressed gratitude for the foreign ministry's efforts to advance cooperation files between the two countries, praising the depth and breadth of Egyptian-Canadian relations across various fields.

Egypt is Canada’s number one partner in Africa in trade, with approximately $1.9 billion in bilateral trade, according to previous remarks by the Canadian ambassador to Al-Ahram Weekly.

According to Dumas, Canada has provided over $1 billion in international assistance to Egypt since the inception of its bilateral development programme more than 40 years ago.

The event also addressed the role of the Egyptian community in Canada in strengthening community ties between the two peoples and its positive contributions to Canadian society.

The cultural and educational dimension is a key and effective way to connect with Canadian society and strengthen the ties of the Egyptian community with Egypt. This dimension significantly influences other aspects of Egypt-Canada relations. A major contributor to this impact is the presence of over 2,000 Egyptian-origin university professors across various disciplines, including those who have attained positions as university presidents and vice presidents, according to the State Information Service (SIS).

Initiation of relations & Multinational Force in Sinai
 

The event also addressed Canada's participation in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Sinai.

The Canadian participation dates back to the 1980s, nearly three decades after Egypt and Canada established diplomatic ties in 1954.

Canada first gained significant prominence in Egypt through its effective intervention in the 1956 Suez crisis, the SIS said, thanks to the pivotal role of Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lester Pearson.

Pearson’s efforts in resolving this crisis and deploying the United Nations Emergency Force to Sinai earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957.

According to the Canadian government, Operation CALUMET is Canada's support to MFO, an independent peacekeeping operation in the Sinai Peninsula since September 1985.

The MFO's tasks are to supervise the implementation of the security provisions of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and employ best efforts to prevent any violation of its terms.

In June 2022, Canada's government announced the extension of operation CALUMET to March 2025.

Nearly 40 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members make up Task Force El-Gorah in Sinai.

Egypt’s candidacy for UNESCO
 

The event also reviewed Egypt's candidacy for the UNESCO director-general role. In 2023, Egypt announced the nomination of its former tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany, who also attended the event, to this post.

El-Enany, 53, has been a professor of Egyptology at his alma mater Helwan University since 2011.

He has over 30 years of experience in scientific research, Egyptology, antiquities, heritage, and tourism.

Moreover, he has contributed to various major universities and research institutions in Egypt and abroad.

The African Union (AU) announced its support for his candidacy in February, while the Arab League (AL) announced its support in September 2023.

His election for UNESCO’s top position is scheduled for the last quarter of 2025.