The fundamental reason to join AmbCanada is to become part of a community of former public servants who have represented Canada abroad at the highest levels by leading a Canadian diplomatic mission. Whether serving as a HOM was a single assignment or the culmination of a career in diplomacy, it represents a professional high point for anyone. It is also an intensely social experience – with the country to which you were accredited, with your diplomatic colleagues, with the staff in your mission, and with the wider network of the Canadian foreign service. Many people make friendships and connections which they wish to maintain once they are no longer carrying a red passport. AmbCanada was founded for that purpose. 

Our regular luncheons in Ottawa are a primary way for members who live in the National Capital Region to keep in touch with each other. Our annual holiday season reception on the 9th Floor of the Pearson Building, co-hosted by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, serves the same purpose. Members who live elsewhere in Canada will often attend one of these events if they are planning a visit to Ottawa. We also have co-ordinators in Victoria, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax who organize informal get-togethers for our members in their regions. 

Beyond in-person gatherings, we maintain an online electronic directory with contact details of all our members to enable them to get in touch with each other. We publish a monthly compendium of op eds, articles, interviews, podcasts, and TV appearances by our members, so you can follow how they are contributing to the public discussion of diplomacy. We also circulate In Memoriam notices – a service which is much appreciated by families who are often unsure about how to reach out to a loved one’s former professional colleagues. 

We also organize a robust series of speaker events on international issues for our members. While we all have access to abundant sources of news and commentary, AmbCanada events offer a more privileged opportunity to discuss these topics from a Canadian perspective, with colleagues who have dealt with them as senior Canadian diplomats. All our events are live-streamed, allowing members worldwide to watch and participate in the discussion.

AmbCanada is committed to increasing public awareness of the importance of diplomacy and the value of a professional foreign service. Many of our members contribute through teaching, writing, and speaking on these issues at universities, in the media, and to service organizations. As an association, we look for ways to amplify their work. In May 2025, we organized a major foreign policy conference at the University of Ottawa and will be looking for similar opportunities in the future. We support scholarships at Canadian universities, currently through the Deborah Chatsis Scholarship at Carleton University for indigenous master’s students in international relations. We have a long-standing briefing program with the Canadian Foreign Service Institute for newly-appointed Heads of Mission and have recently launched a mentorship program for young officers at the Royal Military College. We partner in various ways with a wide range of government, academic, and non-governmental organizations that share our objectives. You can find details about all these activities under the Partnerships menu on this website. 

Our organization is only as strong and as active as our members. For all these reasons, we hope you will be interested in joining us.