New Czech General Consulate opens in Toronto

A new Czech consulate has opened in Toronto, which is home to the largest number of Czech immigrants in Canada. Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda attended the opening ceremonies on Friday as part of his 4-day state visit to Canada. The Toronto consulate is the third in Canada; the other two are located in Montreal and Calgary. The Czech foreign minister is also scheduled to meet with Canadian government officials to discuss the issue of visa requirements. Visa relations are currently not asymmetrical, as Czech citizens require a visa to visit Canada, but Canadians have not required a visa for the Czech Republic since May 1st, 2004.

Czech writer Josef Skvorecky and his wife, Zdena Salivarova, who settled in Toronto in the 1960s and established the exile publishing house Sixty-Eight Publishers, were also honoured by the Czech foreign minister for their good work promoting the Czech Republic. Since 1969, Skvorecky and Salivarova have published over 220 books, the bulk of them banned by the Czechoslovak communist censors prior to 1989.