Mission
The British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce (BCCTC) exists to promote the transatlantic business interests of our members. The BCCTC has four key objectives:
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to promote the bilateral development of trade, commerce and investment between the UK and Canada;
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to represent the opinion of the British business community in Canada on trade, commerce, finance and industry, and to represent the Canadian business community in the UK in these same respects;
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to help create better understanding between the Canadian and British business communities; and
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to provide opportunities for members to meet for business and social networking.
Who we are
Founded in 1951, the British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce is governed by an elected board. The Chamber is a private sector non-profit organization that receives no funding from either the Canadian nor British governments.
The BCCTC maintains a close relationship and receives support from the British High Commission, and its offices across Canada, and Global Affairs Canada. We also work with many other chambers of commerce, municipal authorities and trade associations. Here’s a list of our affiliations! (link to Affiliations page)
We also frequently partner and promote events with bilateral and multilateral chambers of commerce, including:
Name, Title
Meet our board
Martin Buckle
Treasurer
Idalia Obregon
Executive Director
BCCTC By-laws
Dean Smith
Chairman of the Board
National Chair of the British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce, President Cadesky U.S. Tax Ltd., Partner Cadesky & Associates LLP, Chartered Professional Accountant, U.S Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, Ph .D. from the University of Waterloo.
Martin Buckle
Treasurer & VP
Martin is the President of Bjorklund & Company of Canada Ltd, a specialist Management Consultancy providing business improvement and reorganization services to companies experiencing challenging commercial environments. He serves on the Board of the British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce as Treasurer, and he is actively seeking to promote greater trade between the UK and Canada. A Management Accountant by training, he is the Chair of the Board of Directors for CIMA Canada, the Canadian Branch of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and is a member of the Honourable Company of Freemen of the City of London of North America. An alumnus of Oxford University, he serves as Treasurer for the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Toronto. He is also the Vice-President, Advocacy, of the Toronto Humane Society. In 2018 he was the Financial Agent for Peter Tabuns MPP as he successfully sought reelection to Queen’s Park.
Christophe Shammas
Director
Christophe is a partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP, a full service law firm with several offices across Ontario. Christophe's practice consists primarily of commercial litigation and construction and infrastructure law. Christophe has appeared before all levels of Court in Ontario on motions, trials and appeals and has participated in domestic and international arbitrations. Christophe has also written on issues relating to international law and is the editor-in-chief of LawExchange International's Guide to Enforcing Foreign Judgments.
LinkedIn Profile
James Dunn
Director
Born and raised in Leicester - UK, James has extensive experience supporting British business in foreign markets. James has been living and working in Shanghai for the British Chamber for the past seven years, and since 2019 leading BritCham Shanghai as their executive director. Over that time, he revolutionized BritCham Shanghai by implementing an award-winning re-brand and leading engagement efforts to see the Chamber now one of the top foreign chambers in Asia.
James moved to Ottawa in 2022 as a new permanent resident and is eager to collaborate with members and contribute his skills and experience to support the Chambers’ mission of promoting and enhancing trade and business relations between the UK and Canada.
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Adwet Sharma
Director
Adwet is a Program Manager, Government Affairs at Edelman Global Advisory, a leading international public affairs firm which helps clients navigate evolving geopolitics, build trust, and achieve business success.
He has a background in government and foreign policy with his prior experiences including working as a political staffer at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Queen’s Park) and as an Ambassador Liaison at the NATO Association of Canada.
Adwet holds an H.BA specializing in International Affairs and majoring in Economics from The University of Toronto. He is also a part of the U.S Consulate-General of Toronto’s Next Generation Leaders Network and recently became a Freeman of the City of London.
Having grown up in Oxford (next to RAF Brize Norton), Adwet is an aviation enthusiast who enjoys meeting folks from all walks of life.
Idalia Obregon
Executive Director
Idalia is an entrepreneur, engineer, marketer and leader with experience spanning a wide range of not-for-profit sectors in Canada, Latin America, and the EU. She is the President and Founder of an international management consulting and marketing firm called “Exito Trade Consulting Inc.”, and ED of the St. George’s Society of Toronto.
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Idalia is also the Past-President of the Toronto Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, represented the Hispanic Business Community at the Supplier Diversity Advisory Council (SDAC) in the Pan/ParaPan Am Games TO2015, and is the former ED of European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto.
History
The Chamber was founded on June 1, 1951, under our original name, the British Canadian Trade Association (BCTA). Our forerunner was the Canadian Association of British Manufacturers and Agents (CABMA), a UK-funded organization that provided a directory listing all the UK manufacturers and agents in Canada. When the UK government decided to withdraw funding for CABMA, the BCTA arose to fill the gap.
We thrived as an independent business agency, and maintained close working relationships with the Canada UK Chamber of Commerce in the UK, the Confederation of British Industry and other major trade organizations. We gave our travelling members access to free temporary office space and telephones all over Canada, and provided members the opportunity to join a group insurance scheme—very worthwhile benefits in those years. We published a magazine entitled Connections and held hugely popular events, including a Christmas luncheon that drew over 600 attendees.
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In 1995, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto (EUCOCIT) was established, and around that same time, we changed our name to the British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce (BCCTC). (In 2013, EUCOCIT became EUCCAN, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Canada.) We held many joint trade exhibits and speaker events, and still maintain a warm relationship with one another today.
The BCCTC celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2011, and on this occasion received a commendation from the Premier of Ontario and congratulations from the UK High Commissioner to Canada.
We’re proud of our deep roots as an organization and our long-standing transatlantic relationships. Today, the BCCTC is implementing a range of cutting-edge technological strategies to help our members stay connected with one another in the digital world and continue to enjoy the benefits of friendly business ties between Canada and the UK.