Ten Years of Building a Transatlantic Table: Sam Ayoub and the Chamber Behind the Brussels Summit

Every autumn, Brussels hosts a one-day gathering of business people and officials who work on trade between Canada and Europe. The EU–Canada Business Summit has become one of the steadier fixtures on that calendar. Its seventh edition takes place on 23 November at the Palais des Académies. Every edition has been organised by the same institution, and largely shaped by the same person.

Sam Ayoub is the founding President of the Canada-Europe Economic Chamber – EU. He holds Canadian and French citizenship and was active in international chambers of commerce in Quebec City, Montreal, Vancouver and Paris before founding the Chamber in Canada and in Brussels. For him, the Canada–Europe relationship was everyday work long before it became a subject for summits and communiqués.

The Chamber is not a new arrival. Its Brussels branch continues the work of the Canada-Europe Economic Chamber, which was created in Canada in February 2016. Its stated mission is to promote economic trade between Canada and the European Union, through business development consulting, an annual summit, conferences in Europe and Canada, and trade missions. In his welcome message on the Chamber’s website, Mr Ayoub ties that mission to the entry into force of the Canada–EU free trade agreement, CETA, on 21 September 2017, and invites companies to take part in building the business community around it.

The summit has changed format and venue over the years. It began in 2020 as a virtual event and has been held in person since 2021. The 2021 edition took place at the Cercle Royal Gaulois, and the 2024 and 2025 editions were hosted at the Mission of Canada to the EU in Brussels. Mr Ayoub is a fixture on the programme. In 2025 he gave the opening keynote alongside Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu. In 2024 the other opening keynote came from Mary Ng, who held the trade portfolio at that time. In the early editions he also moderated sessions himself. The 2021 programme lists him as moderator of several panels and of the closing remarks.

This year, the organisers expect about 500 participants and around 20 speakers, with 40 countries represented. The agenda follows the questions now pressing on both sides of the ocean: transatlantic defence cooperation, artificial intelligence, research and innovation, critical technologies, resilient supply chains and market diversification.

The timing matters. Canada and the EU signed a Security and Defence Partnership in June 2025, and in February 2026 they agreed the terms of Canada’s participation in the EU’s SAFE instrument. On 29 October, EU and Canadian leaders met in Montréal for the 21st EU–Canada summit, and a business roundtable with CEOs was part of the programme. The Brussels summit follows less than a month later. It gives companies a chance to discuss what the politicians have just agreed.

A summit like this is judged by what people take away from it: contacts, partnerships and a clearer view of where the two markets are heading. That is the work Mr Ayoub’s Chamber has been doing for ten years, one summit at a time. EUReflect Media is the Official Media Partner of this year’s edition. Our team will be on site on 23 November, covering the opening keynotes and panels and speaking with speakers and organisers, and our Director of Eastern European and Transatlantic Affairs, Olha Pashchenko, will moderate one of the panel discussions. A follow-up report will come after the summit.