Minister Grabar-Kitarović met with representatives of Canadian Croats

On 19 November 2006 in Montreal, Minister Grabar-Kitarović visited the Croatian parish and met with father Jozo Grubišić and President of the Croatian-Canadian Congress for Quebec Domagoj Kljajo. Minister Grabar-Kitarović informed her collocutors about the current events in the realisation of Croatia’s foreign policy goals – EU and NATO accession. Minister Grabar-Kitarović said that Croatian expatiates are the bridge between the two countries and an important link in the bilateral relations, reminding about the attention the Croatian Government is paying to the Croatian emigrants. A part of the meeting concerned the potentials of economic co-operation between the Croats in Canada and the Republic of Croatia, with Minister Grabar-Kitarović presenting the measures for cutting the administrative obstacles in investment.

As a part of her visit to the Croatian parish, Minister Grabar-Kitarović visited students of the Croatian school in Montreal and met with their parents and the representatives of Croatian associations in Montreal.

On Sunday, 19 November 2006, together with the Croatian community in Vancouver, Minister Grabar-Kitarović attended a mass at the church of the Croatian Catholic Mission, and then met with the representatives of Croatian associations in Vancouver.

Minister Grabar-Kitarović informed the representatives of the Vancouver Croatian community with Croatia’s basic foreign policy goals, acceding to the Euro-Atlantic integration, and the activities being conducted to that end. Minister Grabar-Kitarović also discussed the possibilities of further improving the cultural and economic co-operation between the Croats in Canada and the Republic of Croatia. Reviewing the possibilities of investing in Croatia, Minister Grabar-Kitarović presented Hitro.hr, a project by the Croatian Government, and pointed out the reduced administrative obstacles for investors.

According to the estimates based on the Canadian census and data gathered by the Croatian Catholic communities and Croatian clubs, there are about 250,000 Croats of the first, second, and third generation living in Canada. The Canadian Croats are active participants in the Canadian society and public life, preserving and promoting at the same time their European heritage. The Croats in Canada are gathered around the Croatian clubs, while also worth noting is the existence of the Croatia-Canada Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group.

There are more than 19 Croatian Catholic parishes in Canada, performing religious and civil services, and dozens of schools of Croatian language and culture. The most important secondary education facility teaching the Croatian language, literature, history, and culture is the University of Waterloo, featuring the Croatian Language and Culture Department founded in 1988 pursuant to the agreement between the Croatian community and the University. Apart from that, there are about 60 Croatian folklore groups in Canada, organised independently or tied to Croatian organisations, societies, and parishes, and numerous printed and electronic media in Croatian language.