Estonia and Canada

07.04.2010

• Visits
• Agreements
• Defence Co-operation
• Aid Programmes
• Economic Relations
• Culture

Canada recognised Estonia in 1922 and re-recognised Estonia on 26 August 1991.

Canada covers Estonia from its Embassy in Riga. Canada’s Ambassador to Latvia Mr. R. Scott Heatherington is accredited also to Lithuania and Estonia.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to Canada is Väino Reinart, who resides in Washington. Estonia is represented in Canada at the level of chargé d’affaires a.i. As of December 2009 the chargé d’affaires a.i. is Riho Kruuv, who resides in Ottawa.

The following honorary consuls serve in Canada: Estonian Honorary Consul General Laas Leivat (Province of Ontario), Honorary Consul Toomas Heinsoo (Toronto), Honorary Consul Harry A. Jaako (Vancouver) and Honorary Consul Maurice Forget (Montreal).

Since autumn 2006 Canadian military attaché, James Petryk, is accredited to Estonia, residing in Warsaw. The Estonian military attaché accredited to Canada is Meelis Kiili, who resides in Washington.

The Estonia-Canada parliamentary group was established in May 2003; currently it is comprised of 13 members. The chairman of the parliamentary group is Imre Sooäär. In November 2009 Committee on Transport and Communication from the Senate of Canada visited Estonia in order to learn more about Estonian e-services.

As of 27 September 2006, mutual visa-free travel is in force between Estonia and Canada.

Visits

Agreements

Estonia and Canada have signed the following bilateral agreements:

• Memorandum on Mutual Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Estonia and the Ministry of Justice of Canada (came into force 15 May 1992);
• Memorandum on Mutual Understanding in the Area of Fishing (came into force 23 Sep 1992);
• Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Income and Capital and on the Prevention of Tax Evasion (came into force 28 Dec 1995);
• Memorandum on Mutual Understanding between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Estonia and the Ministry of Defence of Canada Regarding Military Matters (came into force 13 Oct 1997);
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Estonia and the Toronto School Board on the Estonian Language Immersion Program. (came into force 31 Mar 2000.);
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia and the Canadian International Development Agency concerning the Official Development Assistance in Central Europe Program (ODACE). (came into force 16 Apr 2004);
• Agreement on Social Security between the Republic of Estonia and Canada. (came into force 1 Nov 2006.);
• Agreement on Audiovisual Co-operation (came into force 4 Nov 2004).
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Estonia concerning Youth Exchanges (signed 14 Dec 2009).

Defence Co-operation

Relations in the field of defence started to develop in 1994. A formal basis for defence-related co-operation was laid with the conclusion of the memorandum of mutual understanding on 13 August 1997.

Co-operation with Canada has been focused mainly on the training of servicemen and of civil officials of the Ministry of Defence, including on the teaching of English and French, which is arranged in the framework of the Military Training Assistance Program. Canada also supports the Baltic Defence College in Tartu and sends students to study there.

The Government of Canada was the first NATO member state to ratify Estonia’s NATO accession protocol, on 28 April 2003.

The Government of Estonia resolved to join the Ottawa Convention banning land mines. The Riigikogu ratified the convention on 24 March 2004. Estonia has joined the second basic convention CCWC or the Geneva Convention and its protocols on restriction and prohibition of the use of land mines. Estonia does not presently possess weapons subject to the Ottawa Convention.

One of Canada’s foreign policy priorities remains its effective contribution to the southern regions of Afghanistan, which is an important point of contact for Estonia and Canada. Both countries meet regularly within the meetings of the ISAF RC(S) ministers and on the working level.

Estonia and Canada together participate in the NATO ISAF mission in the difficult region of southern Afghanistan. Canada is planning to pull its units out of Afghanistan in 2011.

Aid Programmes

The most successful of the Canadian aid programmes have turned out to be the establishment of the Estonian Legal Language Centre, the language immersion project and the work of the Canadian City Institute.

The co-operation between Canada and Estonia in the area of development co-operation has been close and productive. Canada has helped Estonia as regards the raising of the capacity of development co-operation.

On 7 November 2005, an agreement was concluded between the Estonian Foreign Ministry and the Canadian Development Agency CIDA, enabling in the framework of the ODACE program (Official Development Assistance in Central Europe) to present and fund trilateral projects. Currently, a project directed at the strengthening of the Georgian Parliament as an institution and at the development of a democratic society has received bilateral approval.

In Eastern Europe, an important partner for Estonia has been Ukraine, where successful co-operation with Canada has taken place. Estonia, while sharing the responsibility and combining opportunities is more capable of resolving problems raised by the partner countries. That can be exemplified by a four-year program of economic management for the civil servants of Ukraine launched in October 2000 - Canada-Ukraine-Baltic Economic Management Training Program - CUBEMTP.

Economic Relations

In 2008 Canada ranked as Estonia’s 29th partner in terms of trade volume (0.3% of all trade). As a destination for exports, Canada ranked in 23rd place in 2007 (0.5% of exports); in terms of imports Canada ranked 36th (0.2% of imports).

In 2008 Estonia’s primary export articles to Canada were mineral products: mineral fuel, mineral oils, and the products of their distillation. Other important articles that made up smaller percentages of total exports were machines and equipment, other manufactured goods, animal products, and prepared foods and drinks.

In 2008 the Eesti Energia company remained interested in Canada’s tar sand industry, which culminated in them visiting Calgary and Edmonton at the beginning of October. The embassy in Canada participated once again in the Montreal business forum, where it introduced Estonia’s business climate and investment opportunities.

In the first nine months of 2009 Canada has risen to the 19th position among Estonia’s trade partners with a total turnover of 138.8 million euros; the balance is positive by 117.6 million euros. This positive change and balance in trade turnover is from large individual shipments of mineral fuel that were sent from Estonia to Canada.

* import is calculated on the basis of the sending country

All economic figures originate from the Statistical Office of Estonia

Culture

Estonian culture has been promoted in Canada by top Estonian musicians, actors and artists.

April 2005 – Estonian artist Külli K. Kaats was at the Toronto Images Festival. Her video installation AVIFAUNA was presented, which had also been exhibited at the Manifesta biennial of 2004 in Donostia-San Sebastian.

September 2005 – Estonian Documentary Film Festival in Toronto

23 October 2005 - Mati Palm in Toronto gave a gala concert at the Estonian House of Toronto with piano accompaniment by Charles Kipper. The concert was arranged by the Estonian Arts Centre, which with that event opened its 30th anniversary festivity series.

31 March 2006 – Guest performance of Mart Kivastik’s play Portrait of a Freezing Artist in the big hall of the Estonian House of Toronto, where the leading roles were played by Hendrik Toompere Jr. (Konrad Mägi), Sulev Teppart (Aleksander Tassa) and Raimo Pass (Nikolai Triik).

October 2006 – Estonian Documentary Film Festival in Toronto.

The presentation of Estonian films has become a tradition in many Canadian cities. Every year, it is possible to see Estonian films in both the Baltic and European Union film festivals. In 2007 Estonia was represented in the Baltic film festival by the movie “Kõrini!” (“Fed Up!”) (in 2006 it was “Röövlirahnu Martin”). At the EU film festival, the Canadian public was able to see the film “Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse” (“Jan Uuspõld Goes to Tartu”) (in 2006 “Malev” was shown in the same festival). The film “Singing Revolution” was very successful in the Estonian documentary film festival that took place in Toronto last year. Mart Laar was present to introduce and comment on the film. One of the festival’s sponsors was the Estonian Embassy in Ottawa.

In 2007, it was possible to view the Estonian films “Jan Uuspõld Goes to Tartu” (“Jan Uuspõld läheb Tartusse”), “Fed Up!” (“Kõrini”), and “The Singing Revolution” within the framework of various festivals. At the beginning of March, Heiki Mätlik (guitar) and Urmas Vulp (violin) performed classical music concerts in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

In 2008, many cultural events took place in Canada in relation to the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. Within the framework of festivals, Canadians were able to view the Estonian films “Autumn Ball” (“Sügisball”), “Georg”, and “Taarka”. Endel Grensmann’s photo exhibit “Bird’s Eye Estonia” was on display in the Canadian Parliament in May. Concerts by Tõnu Naissoo’s jazz quartet took place in Ottawa and Toronto in February, maestro Eri Klas conducted in Toronto in April, the E-stuudio choir and Kiili early music ensemble performed in Ottawa in July, and a classical music concert with Estonia National Opera soloists Heli Veskus and Oliver Kuusik took place in Ottawa in November. In addition, the embassy participated in the Ottawa travel and tourism fair in April and the tulip festival in May.

In addition to the cultural events organised by Estonians in Canada, in the spring of 2009 it was possible for Canadians to see the Estonian film “Georg” within the framework of a European film festival and the films “The Wish Tree” (“Soovide puu”) and “Bank Robbery” (“Pangarööv”) at the Montreal World Film Festival.

Estonians in Canada:

Estonian – Canadian relations are highlighted by the fact that the largest Estonian community next to Estonia is in Canada with about 20,000 people (according to some sources up to 50,000). The community is socially active and has been successful in preserving Estonian identity outside the borders of Estonia. One has to do with a respectable and outstanding group within the Canadian society, noteworthy for its prosperity and political influence. As a representative body of the Canadian Estonians, the Estonian Central Council of Canada is active, founded in 1951 and pursuing the purpose of developing and preserving the cultural, economic as well as other ties between the Canadian Estonians and the Estonian nation. In addition to that, in a number of cities there are Estonian societies, serving as gathering places and organising events as well as offering assistance to people living in Estonia. Estonians are more numerous in three regions: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. A number of Estonians born in Canada have come to Estonia upon the regaining of independence, being represented here in state administrative agencies, in business as well as in the field of culture.