London Mission

I had a very good conversation with members of the autonomous vehicle industry in the UK. They visited Ottawa recently and plan to come back. They were very impressed with Area X.O, our AV test facility. This is just one of many great opportunities for further investment in Ottawa because of this innovative facility and the great work by Invest Ottawa.

I met with three international companies that have a strong presence in Ottawa and have plans for growth. Our highly educated workforce, with expertise in engineering, technology, and research and development, is a huge asset for our city. Economic development is a very important priority for Ottawa right now.

Great running into Hockey Canada CEO Kathy Henderson and SVP Dean McIntosh, who are here for the Sports Pro event. They are very pleased with ticket sales and preparation for the World Juniors in Ottawa. And they are excited to work with us on future events in Ottawa, including women’s hockey events. They believe the proposed new arena at Lansdowne will be the ideal size.

I had a great interview with Sports Pro talking about the best of Ottawa: what makes it the perfect place for major events, how we’ve been able to secure international interests in our great city, and that our new infrastructure has the potential to be a game-changer in our capacity to bid more, and win more events for #TeamOttawa.

Great to hear very positive feedback about Ottawa from the leader of an international organization who organized an IT security event featuring participants from dozens of countries in 2015. There is the potential to bring more events like this to Ottawa, especially with great endorsements like this one.

It was great to catch up with Nolan Thiessen of Curling Canada, who is based in Edmonton but is here in London for the Sports Pro Conference. Curling Canada has had great success with its events in Ottawa, including the World Curling Championships last year. We spoke about future events for Ottawa, and Nolan confirmed that the new event centre at Lansdowne will be the ideal size for their plans.

It was great to do interviews with a couple of UK journalists about why Ottawa is an ideal destination for business and sports events. The UK is Ottawa's largest international market and more awareness about our city will lead to more business!

It was great to reconnect with the team from Netflix who shot part of their series Geek Girl in Ottawa last year. It will be released in the next month or so. In the series, Ottawa is not a stand-in for another city. The storyline actually revolves around a visit to Ottawa and some of our major tourist attractions. Let's bring more TV and movie productions to Ottawa!

Ottawa Tourism held a great event hosting 200 UK and international event organizers and tourism industry leaders. Many of the attendees were big fans of Ottawa and are planning to bring events to the city in the next few years. And we introduced Ottawa to many people who are planning events that are the perfect size for our city. Some great opportunities for our economy!

Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is one of Ottawa's biggest events and economic drivers, bringing thousands of visitors to Ottawa every May. As part of the #TeamOttawa mission to London, TORW has a booth at the London Marathon race expo, where I spent some time to help attract more UK and European runners and tourists to our city. Great to run into some runners from Ottawa too!