The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, ends this Sunday in Toronto and its surroundings his five-day official visit to Canada dedicated to the Portuguese emigrant communities of this country.

At the end of the day, the head of state will go to New York, where he will participate in the general debate of the 78th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, until Friday.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began his visit to Canada on Wednesday, where, according to the 2021 census, around 450,000 people of Portuguese origin live.

This Sunday, your program includes a visit to Toronto’s most Portuguese neighbourhood, known as “Little Portugal”, passing a mural by Portuguese artist Vhils honouring the union struggle of Portuguese workers in Canada and a Portuguese pastry.

This is followed, early in the afternoon, by a visit to the Portuguese-Canadian Charitable Society, an institution that supports people with disabilities, in Mississauga, a city near Toronto, the last point of this official visit.

During these five days, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had a program divided between the two largest cities in Canada, Toronto and Montreal.

Although he did not travel to the capital, Ottawa, the head of state met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a hotel in Toronto.

Justin Trudeau was also alongside the President of the Republic at an exhibition on the arrival of the first officially registered Portuguese emigrants in Canada, 70 years ago.

The so-called pioneers arrived in 1953, following the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1952.

In Canada, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was accompanied by deputies from the six parties with parliamentary groups, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, during the first three days of this visit, and the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Paulo Cafôfo, who joined the delegation in Toronto.

The deputies who were part of the President’s delegation were João Azevedo e Castro, from the PS, Francisco Pimentel, from the PSD, Diogo Pacheco de Amorim, from Chega, Rodrigo Saraiva, parliamentary leader of the Liberal Initiative, Bruno Dias, from the PCP, and José Soeiro, from the Left Bloc.