To strengthen relations with Canada, Taiwan will open a representative office in Montreal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Tuesday, reported Taiwan News.

However, MOFA did not divulge when the office is expected to become operational, saying only that related preparations are still ongoing, reported Focus Taiwan.

Taiwan already operates ‘Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices’ in the capital Ottawa, the largest city Toronto, and in the west coast city of Vancouver, but Montreal is the country’s second-largest city and the most populous one in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, which houses a quarter of the country’s population, MOFA said in a statement.

The ministry described the city as a centre of technology, offering opportunities for cooperation in fields including electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. Montreal was also the seat of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an organization that Taiwan has been trying to join for several years, and it hosts missions from several countries, including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and France, MOFA said, reported Taiwan News.

The Canadian government recently stated its intention to intensify relations with the Indo-Pacific region, mentioning Taiwan as a focus for economic, people-to-people, and scientific cooperation, MOFA said.

Preparations are still underway for the Montreal office, but MOFA has not named a target date for its opening nor the name of a representative.

Once it opens, the office will become Taiwan’s fourth representative office in Canada, following its main office in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, and branch offices in Toronto and Vancouver.

The decision to open the new office was made in recognition of Canada being a bilingual country in which English and French are official languages, and Montreal is the biggest city in the province of Quebec, where most of Canada’s French-speaking population lives, reported Focus Taiwan.

“Taiwan’s establishment of a new office in Montreal will lend impetus to further cooperation and exchanges between the two countries”, in particular after Canada recently announced its own Indo-Pacific Strategy, MOFA said.

As part of that strategy, Canada wants to deepen relationships with partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including enhancing economic and people-to-people ties with Taiwan and further developing partnerships focused on science, technology, and innovation, according to MOFA.

Taiwan currently has 111 overseas representative offices, including embassies and consulates in the 14 countries with which it has formal diplomatic relations.

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