The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Canada hosted its annual Taiwan Student Association Meeting on Sunday November 17, at Capital Hill Hotel and Suites in Ottawa.

This is an annual event for representatives of different Taiwan student associations to get together, discuss their experiences, and learn from one another. This year representatives of seven Taiwan student associations from five universities—the University of Toronto, York University, and Queen's University in Ontario, and McGill University and Concordia University in Quebec—took part.

The student association at Concordia University was establish just a few weeks earlier, so the meeting was particularly timely, giving its representatives an opportunity to learn from experienced office-holder members of other associations. An important topic discussed was succession planning. Each association needs to ensure that there will be younger students ready to take on the office-bearer roles when its current leaders graduate, and so they need to begin grooming successors beforehand.

Winston Wen-yi Chen, the diplomatic representative of the government of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) in Canada, and directors and personnel from all six divisions at TECO also attended the meeting. The directors outlined the main work of their respective divisions, and answered questions from students.

After the meeting ended, everyone enjoyed a meal at Ottawa’s Bier Markt, hosted by Representative Chen, and the TECO personnel and students continued their discussions in a more relaxed, informal setting.