January 16, 2015 — Ottawa — Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander today concluded a busy and successful trip to India, which saw a number of important advances in our bilateral relationship.
Alexander led the largest-ever Canadian delegation to the Vibrant Gujarat conference, where he helped promote the abundant investment opportunities in the transportation, natural resource and energy sectors, the strength of our post-secondary academic institutions, and the benefit of Canada’s new Express Entry system.
In a series of meetings and speeches, Alexander highlighted innovation and opportunity as the cornerstones for expanded ties between Canada and India. In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two agreed to explore new ways of working together to promote security and combat terrorism.
In Bengaluru (Bangalore), Alexander officially opened a new Canadian visa office. There are now three such offices in India, served by 10 visa application centres throughout the country. This reaffirms Canada’s commitment to meeting the high demand of travel facilitation with India, and will build on impressive growth in visa issuance in recent years.
Minister Alexander completed his trip in Chennai where he facilitated talks with students and faculty from one of India’s most prestigious academic institutions – the Indian Institute of Technology. Earlier in the trip, he also delivered a presentation to students and faculty at the Indian Institute of Management. Alexander used these opportunities and others to promote Express Entry and the benefit of the Start-up Visa Program.
Kevin Menard
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.
