Fun Facts About Canada
• Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal in 1925.
• Musician/songwriter Leonard Cohen was born in Quebec in 1934.
• By year-end 2018, you will be able to hike, bike, kayak, ski or go by horseback along the Great Trail, a nearly 15,000-mile route across the country. No cars are allowed.
• A new CAD$10 note was released this year, honoring four parliamentarians from diverse backgrounds.
• This year, St. John, New Brunswick, unveiled a glass skywalk over the Reversing Falls Rapids.
• Churchill, Manitoba, has a 28-cell polar bear jail. More than 2,000 of the critters have spent time behind bars since its construction in 1982.
• The Apology Act, passed in 2009, made apologies inadmissible in court in place of admission of guilt or fault.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs turn 100 this year.
• In 2012, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers created a maple reserve warehouse that can store approximately 220,000 barrels of the syrupy stuff, ensuring a continuous market supply regardless of nature's whimsy.
• There are some 2 million lakes and 2.5 million caribou in all of Canada.
This past July, Canada reached its 150th anniversary. To celebrate, our neighbor to the north, fondly known for maple syrup, brutally cold winters and rabid ice hockey fans, is throwing a blowout party of yearlong festivities, from big-city weekend-long galas to patriotic small-town parades. It even produced the official Canada 150 tulip, with red and white petals to match the Canadian flag, developed in partnership with the Netherlands. Clearly, this is a major celebration, and it shows no sign of slowing in the coming months.
Canada has long been a popular destination for U.S. travelers. Now, with a currency exchange rate hovering at CAD$1.39 to US$1, it has even more appeal as an affordable meeting destination. Backing up that attractive currency rate is heavy investment in the hospitality sector. The major cities of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are introducing new air routes, luxury meeting hotels, award-winning restaurants, and glitzy venues and attractions.
What follows is a snapshot of some highlights from the development front.
Montreal
French-centric Montreal has been celebrating its 375th birthday in grand style this year with countless food and music festivals and specially curated exhibits at just about all of its museums. In hotel news:
• The 90-room Le Mount Stephen, with more than 6,000 square feet of meeting space, opened in May 2017 following a massive renovation of its 100-year-old neo-Renaissance building.
• After closing in June 2015 for a CAD$140 million overhaul, the 950-room Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth reopened this June with a fresh look and several new dining options. To open on the 21st floor in October is Espace C2, a meeting space for up to 220 people that was developed with Montreal-based C2, innovators of the C2-MTL conference.
• The 166-room AC Hotel Montreal Downtown, featuring close to 6,000 square feet of meeting space, will debut in January 2018.
• To open in fall 2018 is the 163-room Four Seasons Montreal, with a 6,000-square-foot ballroom and lots of luxury retail space.
• Heating up the boutique-hotel scene is the 127-room Hotel William Gray, housed in two historic buildings in Old Montreal. The property has 10,000 square feet of event space, and its new restaurant, Maggie Oakes, has quickly become a hot spot with locals.
• In May 2017, Air Canada announced the addition of a number of new routes from Montreal, including service between Dallas; Iceland; Shanghai; and Marseilles, France.
• WestJet plans to begin twice-daily service between Montreal and Boston on Oct. 15.Toronto
Earlier this year, Tourism Toronto inaugurated a new "Canada's Downtown" campaign. The city is betting on its status as the fourth largest in North America, touting that it's just a 90-minute flight from over half of the U.S. gateways. Likewise, the city hopes a 2016 BBC Radio documentary that declared Toronto the world's most multicultural metropolis, with a population that is 51 percent foreign-born, will help spark more inbound group business.
• Closed for 38 years, the 5,000-square-foot Crystal Ballroom in the 301-room Omni King Edward Hotel reopened in April 2017 following a US$5.1 million renovation.
• The long-delayed 404-room Hotel X Toronto, a member of the Library Collection, was at press time on the verge of opening, becoming the first property built on the grounds of Exhibition Place. The hotel has several restaurants, a rooftop pool and 26,000 square feet of meeting space.
• Kimpton Hotels & Resorts will open its first hotel in Canada, a 189-room boutique property in Toronto, in early 2018.
• The 209-room Toronto Marriott Markham, with 11,000 square feet of meeting space, is set to open by January of next year.
• This past May, Air Canada commenced new routes between Toronto and Memphis, Tenn.; San Antonio; and Savannah, Ga., as well as Berlin and Mumbai, India.
• Last month, Mexican carrier Interjet added nonstop, four-times-weekly service from Cancún and Mexico City to Toronto.
• The Metro Toronto Convention Centre announced a US$18 million project to renovate its South Building. The work will add 10 new meeting rooms with a total 13,000 square feet of space, as well as a redesign of the registration area, enhanced WiFi capabilities and new signage throughout. Completion is expected in early 2018.
• The Rec Room, a 40,000-square-foot entertainment complex with multiple gaming outlets, including interactive video simulators, is Toronto's new hot spot. It opened this past July, just steps from the CN Tower, and offers several flexible meeting spaces, upscale restaurants and outdoor patio seating.
• In August 2016, Vancouver-based Yoga brand Lululemon opened a new 10,000-square-foot concept store on Queen Street, which features retail and event space, cooking classes, a workout area, complimentary WiFi and more.
Vancouver
This city's cachet as a destination has been steadily growing since it hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. The United States is the city's largest international travel market, with more than 2.3 million overnighters in 2016, a 9.8 percent year-over-year increase.
• In July 2016, Vancouver launched a new bike-share program with 1,500 bicycles across the city.
• The 746-room Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, which features over 53,000 square feet of meeting space, completed a US$29 million renovation in 2016.
• A US$506 million project, to open by year's end, will comprise two luxury hotels. The 329-room JW Marriott Parq Vancouver and the 188-room Douglas will have a combined 62,000 square feet of meeting space. The LEED Gold-certified complex also will have eight award-winning chef restaurants, a casino, and a full-service Spa by JW.
• At Vancouver International Airport, Air Canada has inaugurated nonstop service to London; Frankfurt, Germany; and Melbourne, Australia; Aeromexico has added nonstops to Mexico City, while Cathay Pacific has begun service from Hong Kong.