Mississauga Gathers Dignitaries to Mark 90 Years of Canada-Japan Diplomatic Relations

The City of Mississauga hosted a reception at the Mississauga Civic Centre last evening to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Canada-Japan diplomatic relations.

The reception, hosted by Mayor Bonnie Crombie and the City’s Economic Development Office, was attended by Ms. Takako Ito, Consul General of Japan in Toronto, Members of City Council, as well as members of Mississauga’s Japanese business community.

“Mississauga shares a special, long-standing relationship with Japan that is deeply rooted in our shared values and strong economic ties. That’s why Mississauga is honoured to be hosting a reception to acknowledge 90 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries,” said Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga.

Mississauga is home to nearly 100 globally-respected, successful and innovative Japanese companies. This number represents almost half of all Japanese companies located in Ontario and more companies than any other city within Canada. Some recent additions to the list of Japanese companies in Mississauga are Eisai Limited, MHI Canada Aerospace, KinderKids, IKO Thompson Bearings Canada and Tohmei Industries.

The City’s Economic Development Office works closely with the Japanese business community to support their growth in Canada. Japanese companies provide a major economic boost to Mississauga in the life sciences, aerospace, information and communications technology, logistics and transportation, and various advanced manufacturing sectors. In three years, Japan has moved from the third to the second highest source of foreign direct investment to Mississauga, after the United States.

“Mississauga is proud to be home to a number of globally-respected, successful and leading Japanese-based companies who have decided to do business in our City because of our highly skilled talent and access to the North American markets. That’s why I’ve made it a priority as Mayor to help attract Japanese business and investment to our City. When Japan succeeds, Mississauga succeeds,” added Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga.

“As our Japanese business community continues to grow, it creates more knowledge-based jobs, industrial and commercial tax assessment to the City and business-to-business opportunities for local suppliers and collaborations,” said Bonnie Brown, Director of Economic Development. “International companies help attract additional investments and success stories in Mississauga.”

The diplomatic relationship between Canada and Japan dates back to 1928 when Japan first established a diplomatic mission in Ottawa. This was followed by Canada’s diplomatic mission in Tokyo in 1929 that formally completed the process of establishing full bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries. Since then the two countries have shared strong political and economic ties.

Mississauga shares a very special relationship with Japan and has enjoyed a sister-city relationship with Kariya, Japan over the past 36 years. The cities have been exchanging friendship and cultural delegations since then. Kariya Park, in Mississauga, was officially opened in July 1992 to honour the eleventh anniversary of Mississauga’s sister-city relationship with Kariya.

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• Economic Development
• Government Relations