The Minister of Foreign Action and the European Union,Meritxell Serret i Aleu, met with political representatives from Quebec and members of the Quebec sovereignty movement to announced them, that the Government of Catalonia has opened the position of special envoy to Canada, which will be established in Montreal. Minister Serret held these meetings during her institutional trip to Canada.

The envoy's role will report to the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the United States and Canada, led by Isidre Sala Queralt, and will facilitate closer institutional ties with the Quebec authorities. This announcement represents an expansion of the institutional presence of the Government of Catalonia in Quebec, which currently already has a Trade and Investment office in Montreal and the offices of the Ramon Llull Institute and the Catalan Tourist Agency of New York, which also have jurisdiction in Canada.

During her working day, the minister also gave the report published by the Institute of Self-Government Studies on the different legal pathways for holding an independence referendum to all the personalities she met. "We were able to convey to them the referendum proposal that President Aragonès has put on the table to negotiate with the Spanish state and progress towards the democratic resolution of the political conflict," Serret said.

The minister met with Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois, and Member of Parliament Stéphane Bergeron. She also held a meeting with Catherine Gentilcore, president of the Parti Québécois, and Méganne Perry-Mélançon, national spokesperson of the party.

Finally, Serret met with Daniel Turp, president of the Institute for Research on the Self-Determination of Peoples;Marie-Anne Alepin, president of the Saint-Jean Baptiste Association of Montreal, and Marc Chévrier, professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

In addition to sharing the report on the pathways to hold a referendum, Minister Serret also discussed with all of them the current political situation in Catalonia and Quebec, as well as the institutional ties that unite both countries.

Quebec, a priority partner for Catalonia

The collaboration between Catalonia and Quebec is historical and began in 1996 with the first bilateral agreement between the two territories.

Last March, the governments of Catalonia and Quebec celebrated the eleventh edition of the Catalonia-Quebec Joint Committee in Barcelona, which served to renew the priority areas of cooperation for the next two years.

Cooperation between Quebec and Catalonia during the period 2021-2023 has continued to rise. For example, in the field of digitization, the Government of Quebec has joined the DETA Alliance (Disruptive and Emerging Technology Alliance), an initiative led by Catalonia aimed at enhancing the technological centers of various governments worldwide with a special interest in artificial intelligence, the NewSpace economy, quantum technology, cybersecurity, and digital rights.

Commercial relations are also constantly growing. Catalan exports to Canada reached €344 million in 2022, an increase of 17.8% compared to the previous year. Catalonia mainly exports machinery (15.1%), wines and cavas (9.8%), and organic chemical products (8.6%).