SUISSE News Fall 2022
Social / Events
Social / Events
October 2022
SCCC News (October 2022)
(Sandra Leuba)
President's Message
Dear SCCC Members,
Autumn is one of my favourite seasons in Ontario. A vibrant period of transition when nature winds down one chapter and prepares to begin a new one. In the world of business, we experience a similar cycle as we near the end of the (fiscal) year.
Over the last few months, many Swiss Canadian organizations have changed leadership as part of their natural progression, and so did the SCCC. So, let me introduce myself. My name is Sandra Leuba, and I am honoured to be chosen by the SCCC Board as your new President. Many might know me as I have been an active SCCC Board member for over 10 years including Vice President for many years. Originally from Rapperswil, SG I have been living in Toronto with my husband Mark and the two boys Lucas and Nolan for over 20 years. On a professional level, my experience is within the financial field, currently as Director Risk Management Policy with RBC and creatively with documentary projects.
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Thank you for placing your trust and confidence in my abilities to assume the Presidency of the SCCC. I know it is a significant commitment, and I am prepared to contribute along with the support of our valued Board of Directors to build upon the successes of Alexandra Soriano and the past presidents, many of which remain strongly committed to the Chamber. The Chamber’s focus will continue to be centered around our mission to support, promote and facilitate our members’ interests, and engage members and the wider Swiss-Canadian business community with networking opportunities.
I would like to take this occasion to thank our wonderful outgoing president, Alexandra Soriano for her leadership and strong dedication to the Chamber as a president over the last nearly six years. Alexandra has done a tremendous job guiding the Chamber through a few difficult years but despite this was never short on ideas and brought an innovative and fresh approach. The Board and I are very appreciative of Alexandra’s dedication and are thankful she remains on the Board.
Furthermore, the Chamber is proud that one of our own, Alexandra, has been chosen as the Honorary Consul of Switzerland in Toronto. Congratulations! We feel strongly that Alexandra will do a stellar job representing the Swiss community in Toronto.
The Swiss Business Hub (SBH), the Canadian arm of Switzerland Global Enterprise, the official Swiss organisation for investment promotion and export support, had also a change of leadership. Mr. Steffen Milner became in August the new Head of the SBH Canada and Deputy Consul General. The SCCC is excited to continue our working relationship and collaboration for special events and to ultimately continue to promote Switzerland as an ideal location for businesses. Please read here for further updates on the SBH.
Over the last several months, while COVID related restrictions have eased even further and make international (business) traveling again easier, we suddenly were forced to adapt to new circumstances including heightened inflation and interest rates, affecting among others the real estate market. Read here UBS’s view on the Toronto Housing Bubble.
Earlier in the summer, the SCCC actively supported the SBH with a Swiss Delegation of female entrepreneurs in health and edu tech that came to Montreal and Toronto to explore business opportunities and scout potential partners. We managed to arrange some 1:1’s thanks to our Board and member’s connections and enjoyed a wonderful networking event for invited SCCC members active in the area of focus, high up overlooking the skyline of an again bustling city of Toronto. Check out this post and this article.
And just the other night, we enjoyed a fun evening of reconnecting and casual networking together with the Swiss Club at the Duke of York with great turnout. It’s fantastic that we can socialize and network again in person. No technology can replace this! See photos here.
Future Events
Thanks to our association with the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Canada (EUCCAN), our SCCC members often can get special access to events hosted by EUCCAN or partner Chambers. On November 8 and 9th, the France Canada Chamber of Commerce Ontario extended a special offer from the Blockchain Research Institute and MCI Group Canada for the Web3 and Blockchain World (W3B) conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Click here for details.
Also in November, the renowned PEO Leadership Forum is taking place on November 16 and 17th and our members can benefit from a 15% discount. Check out here for more information.
Last but not least we are looking into options to organize a cozy and cheesy winter gathering. Stay tuned…
As we are embarking on planning possible events for 2023, we would love to hear from you, about specific suggestions or even conferences that may be happening in your field of expertise and where we may collaborate in some ways in order to bring value to you, your firm and the SCCC members overall. Hope to chat with you at one of the next events, or feel free to contact me at 416-616-4251 or sleuba.sccc@gmail.com.
Until next, all the best,
Sandra Leuba
SCCC President
SCCC President
New SCCC Members:
- Habib Canadian Bank (Subsidiary of Habib Bank AG Zurich), Mr. Muslim Hassan - Corporate Gold Member
- Helvetic Capital Consulting AG, Mr. Orestis Valanidis - Personal Entrepreneur Member
