Canada has also bought Cormorant helicopters for search and rescue. The IFI promotes social and economic development and encourages contact, dialogue and reconciliation between nationalists and unionists throughout Ireland. Support for Northern Ireland has been led at the most senior level. Meanwhile the Canada-Ireland Parliamentary Group in Ottawa has played an important role in maintaining the profile of Irish issues. The first Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly, David Trimble, visited Canada in May 1999, when he met Canadian Prime Minister Chretien and leading Canadian political and business figures.
Canadian companies are now among the largest foreign employers in Northern Ireland.
Nortel Networks and Bombardier have long been major investors in the Province. Pivotal Corporation and CMAC announced significant expansions in their investments there in 2000 and 2001. MDS Incorporated, a major Canadian healthcare company, has launched a series of clinical trials in Northern Ireland. Some telling contributions to Northern Ireland's future have been made by Canadian citizens. General John de Chastelain, former Chief of the Canadian Defence Staff, is the Chairman of the Independent International Body on Decomissioning.