“We recognise that the immigration wave of Portuguese who first arrived here in the 60s and 70s built this city (Toronto) and this country” Justin Trudeau said in an interview on multicultural Canadian channel, Omni Television

“The contributions of the Portuguese community have been enormous, ranging from small businesses, teachers, academics, to leaders in many sectors, politics and companies,” said Justin Trudeau .

Canada and Portugal signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Youth Mobility in May 2018 to facilitate access to opportunities for young people aged 18-35 to gain a better understanding of the languages, cultures and society of other countries through travel, work and life experience abroad.

The Canadian Prime Minister was "very happy with the results" following the visit of António Costa to the United States in May 2018.

"It was an important visit. In addition to the youth mobility agreement, we found that there is a real connection between both countries, allied to organisations such as Nato, and Portugal has a global vision," he said.

Justin Trudeau also highlighted the close relationship with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, a leader who in his view has made a difference in issues such as "climate change".

"We know that there is a significant debate on the climate change agreements between the conservatives and us (liberals) in the leadership of this country. We are happy to be standing with the United Nations Secretary-General in a real action on this important issue. It is excellent to have so many prominent Portuguese in the leadership of the various world stages" he praised.

Canada will choose a new government in the federal elections of October 21, 2019.

According to Ottawa, there are about 480,000 Portuguese and Luso-Canadians in Canada.