Princess Margriet and Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven to pay official visit to Canada
Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and her husband, Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven, are to pay an official visit to Canada from 13 to 17 May 2017. They will visit Brampton, Stratford, Goderich, Hamilton, Burlington and Toronto in the province of Ontario.
Princess Margriet and Professor Van Vollenhoven's first port of call is Brampton, where they will visit Holland Christian Homes, the largest Dutch-Canadian nursing home and sheltered housing complex in Canada. The couple will speak to residents, student nurses and volunteers about innovation in care, and about living and working in the Holland Christian Homes community. The couple will also mark the official start of construction work on a new nursing home, and will attend the ceremonial raising of the Dutch flag.
On the following day, Princess Margriet and Professor Van Vollenhoven will visit Stratford and Goderich. In Stratford, where around 40% of the farming population are of Dutch descent, they will unveil a memorial plaque for the building used by the Princess Irene Brigade during the Second World War.
In Goderich they will attend a veterans' parade in Liberation Memorial Park and unveil a memorial plaque commemorating the Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in the Netherlands during the Second World War. Princess Margriet and Professor Van Vollenhoven will end their visit to Stratford and Goderich by attending a concert to be given by the Royal Regiment of Canada and the 48th Highlanders of Canada.
Scientific cooperation will be the theme on Monday 15 May. Princess Margriet and Professor Van Vollenhoven will visit McMaster University in Hamilton, where the Princess will open the round table conference on Antibiotic Resistance and the One Health Network. Princess Margriet is honorary chair of the advisory board of the Global Health master's degree programme, offered in partnership by Maastricht University and McMaster University.
On the fourth day of their visit, Princess Margriet and Professor van Vollenhoven will talk to schoolchildren in Burlington about the friendship between Canada and the Netherlands. Four Burlington schools have active exchange links with schools in Apeldoorn, where the princess and her husband live. The couple will plant a tree in Apeldoorn Park and meet with local residents and veterans.
The programme will end in Toronto, with a visit to the 48th Highlanders of Canada Museum and an informal meeting with members of the Dutch business community.
Princess Margriet was born in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, in 1943 and visits her country of birth regularly. She and her husband have worked for many years to maintain the close ties between the Netherlands and Canada. This visit is the latest in a long series of initiatives.
