The United States – Canada relationship benefits from participating in the largest trading partnership in the world, geographical proximity, and close cultural ties. But there are other factors of the U.S.- Canada relationship which help make it one of the rarest in the world, and part of that is the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The IVLP is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and for 75 years has brought rising leaders from across the globe to the United States to participate in a one-way exchange program.
Recently, Justin Reimer, Assistant Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Innovation for the Alberta government traveled on an IVLP to the United States where he visited five cities over 21 days. The topic of his program was Environmental Solutions to Issues in the Resource Sector. This program brought together members of industry, government, and NGOs from across the country to meet with their counterparts in the United States to look at opportunities to collaborate on issues in resource extraction and environmental protection. Reimer visited Washington, D.C.; Minot, North Dakota; Reno, Nevada; New Orleans, Louisiana; and, Lexington, Kentucky.
This program highlighted opportunities for participants from the United States and Canada to create partnerships and share information on methods and best practices when incorporating environmentally-friendly practices of resource extraction.
For more information on the State Department’s IVLP program click here.
