Canadian community toasts city’s recovery at Thanksgiving Luncheon

The Canadian community in Macau gathered on Sunday for a Canadian Thanksgiving Luncheon, hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Macao.

The event, held this year at the Macau International Golf Club (MIG), also welcomed Marc Mikhael, the newly appointed Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner of Canada at the Consulate General of Canada to Hong Kong and Macao.

Howard Stribbell, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Macao, spoke to the Times on the sidelines of the event and expressed great optimism about Macau’s recovery and the positive impact of expanding initiatives across entertainment and sports.

“After 18 years in Macau, I’ve seen the highs and lows,” said the chamber president. “This is a great time to be here. Things are bouncing back stronger than pre-Covid levels.”

Stribbell pointed to last weekend’s NBA events at the Venetian Macao, which attracted major crowds and international media exposure, as an indicator of renewed energy in Macau’s entertainment and sports sectors.

He believes that Macau’s unique advantage in its compact size allows high-profile events to engage with ordinary residents directly, including outreach to disadvantaged groups.

“You see the events going into the communities, working with disadvantaged people, or just common everyday Macau residents, which is something that you wouldn’t see if it was in Vegas.”

Stribbell also noted the Canadian Chamber’s role in connecting the community’s diverse members, including local alumni, expatriates, and broader society.

“We’re also now seeing graduates going to universities abroad and coming back, starting businesses, or getting put into the big operators here in Macau,” he said, underscoring the strengthening network of Canadian affiliates in the city.

“TIS (The International School of Macao) is actually a young school by many standards, but now we’re starting to see alumni who get married, have babies, and they’re getting their master’s, their PhDs, coming back.”

Within the community, cross-cultural understanding remains critical, with many Macau residents having experience living or working across the Greater Bay Area, facilitating strong ties among Chinese, Portuguese, and international cultures.

“There are so many opportunities in Macau too. If you’re a Macau ID holder, or you speak Chinese and English, it opens so many doors. And what I like is it rewards meritocracy,” Stribbell added.

Looking ahead, the Chamber says that it is attentive to large development projects such as the Hengqin Island initiative and broader regional cooperation across the Greater Bay Area, which includes Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Macau.

“Macau may be the ‘small guy,’ but we’re strategically positioned between two major cities with 40 million people in between. It’s a tremendous opportunity,” Stribbell explained.

“Hengqin Island and the development of Hengqin – I think that’s a huge opportunity. Still yet to be seen how that all works out. The Chamber is working with some interested parties there.”

Praising recent digital advances fueled by partnerships with mainland technology giants Tencent and Alibaba subsidiary AG Tech, which are reshaping Macau’s service landscape, Stribbell said, “I’ve seen real improvement over my time here.”

He also noted the Canadian Chamber’s growing collaborations with Chinese firms and emphasized the joint efforts of international chambers in Macau and Hong Kong to foster sustainable business growth and community development.

“First impressions matter,” he added. “We’ve made progress, but we need to keep evolving to compete with regional hubs.”