Over 30 Enterprise Ireland client companies took part in a four day trade mission to Toronto and Ottawa last month. Led by Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, along with Enterprise Ireland chief executive Jenny Meila, and IDA Ireland executive director Mary Buckley, the mission was aimed at strengthening trade and investment relationships with key Canadian partners across industries of strategic importance to Ireland.
Another objective was to position Ireland as a strategic partner delivering world-class solutions to Canada, according to Enterprise Ireland overseas manager for Canada, David McCaffrey.
Over the four day mission from November 17th to 20th, Enterprise Ireland hosted a series of roundtables and other events aimed at showcasing the capabilities of Irish companies to potential partners and customers in Canada.
Pointing to the scale of the opportunity for Irish firms, McCaffrey notes that bilateral trade between Canada and Ireland nearly doubled to €9 billion in the six years following the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU in 2017.
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While Ireland has yet to officially ratify the agreement, it has been provisionally applied to all EU member states since 2017 and Ireland has been a significant beneficiary, he explains.
“With 98.6 per cent of all tariffs removed, the agreement has made Irish solutions more competitive and lowered trade barriers for new market entrants,” he adds. “Canada is now the 12th largest market globally for Enterprise Ireland clients.”
In the last three years, Enterprise Ireland has seen client companies achieve 32 per cent growth in exports to Canada. That translates into €585 million in exports to Canada by Enterprise Ireland clients last year, the highest it’s ever been. Over the same period, Enterprise Ireland has seen 37 companies establish a presence in Canada.
“Some 19,000 Canadians are employed by Irish headquartered companies,” he points out. “In total 34,000 Canadians are employed by firms that are owned by Irish companies.”
The trade agreement has also opened up opportunities in the public procurement market. “Under CETA, Irish companies can bid on Canadian public tenders at federal, provincial, and municipal levels, valued at over $CA130 billion (€80.6 billion) annually,” he says. “This offers significant opportunities for Irish companies to supply different levels of the Canadian government.”
He also notes that the Province of Ontario Government, representing about 40 per cent of Canadian GDP, has formally implemented a policy to exclude US businesses from public sector procurements since March 2025 unless they have a significant employee base in Ontario. “With a lot of American companies now frozen out, there’s an opportunity for Irish companies to bid on those public tenders,” he adds.
During the mission, Minister Burke officially launched Enterprise Ireland’s new Advisory Tech Council in Canada, a strategic initiative designed to support client companies entering and expanding in the Canadian market. The Council comprises senior leaders from Enterprise Ireland’s network, who provide expert feedback on product-market fit, facilitate valuable connections, and offer guidance on market entry and growth strategies. Irish participants included Brian Hanly, chief executive of Brightbeam, Ben Ramhofer, chief technology officer of Maya Data Privacy and Pratheesh Chambeth, chief executive of Capisso.
Enterprise Ireland also hosted a Canada Ireland Tech Event at Toronto’s famed CN Tower for Irish tech companies to pitch to over 100 senior industry leaders. A number of Irish companies made significant announcements at the event. These included Code East which has entered the Canadian market through a strategic partnership with Abex Insurance, providing AI-powered platforms for digital insurance operations.
Aryza, which delivers software as a service (SaaS) solutions for credit, collections, and insolvency management has its eyes on an aggressive Canadian expansion having completed four acquisitions in 2025.
In addition, Fenergo, one of Ireland’s tech unicorns, has launched its Agentic AI Suite for onboarding, know your customer and anti-money laundering screening with leading Canadian financial institutions in the early adopter programme for the technology.
Also in the tech sphere, Minister Burke met with Rogers, Canada’s largest telecom provider, and Fergal Lawlor chief executive of Irish company Alpha Wireless. Alpha Wireless has been engaged with Rogers on technical collaboration, demonstrating the capabilities Irish companies bring to solving complex telecom challenges. Alpha Wireless is an Irish telecommunications company specialising in advanced antenna solutions for wireless networks.
In the life sciences sector, HiTech Health, a contract development and manufacturing organisation that specialises in cell and gene therapy, has opened a new office in Montreal, marking a significant milestone in its expansion into the Canadian market.
The Enterprise Ireland Women in Leadership Roundtable, hosted by Minster Burke and Jenny Melia, brought together Irish and Canadian business leaders to discuss the development of women business leaders, champion female entrepreneurship and discuss the impact of AI on businesses. Irish leaders who took part were Caroline Grimaldi of Workhuman, Shona McManus, chief executive of Osborne Recruitment, Caroline Dunlea, chief executive of Core Optimisation and Genevieve Sheehan, chief executive of Sheenco Travel.
The Cyber Security Roundtable brought together leading Irish cybersecurity companies with Canadian industry experts to discuss collaborative strategies for tackling the top cybersecurity threats facing public and private organisations, while showcasing Ireland’s global solution providers.
“For Irish companies that have the commitment and resources, now is the time to consider Canada,” says McCaffrey. “In 2024, 55 Irish companies entered the Canadian market for the first time. There is also an opportunity for Irish companies in the US to diversify to the adjacent Canadian market.”
