Dutch businessmen stay in touch with each other through the Canada-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce. The Club Borrel Bitterballen, which is run by a group of local Dutch businessmen affiliated with the Chamber which keeps up the Dutch tradition of Jenevar and bitterballen: which are get-togethers with Holland-style gin and fried snacks.
Each year on April 20, the Netherlands Consul General holds a community event in honour of the birthday of the Queen of Holland. There is a Dutch tradition that on the evening of December 5, Sinterklas (Santa Claus) and his helper sail from Spain to the Netherlands. Dutch children leave shoes outside their doors hoping to wake up and find them filled with toys and candy. In Montreal, however, there�s no boat from Spain, but the community throws a big party anyway. The Dutch not only have a few organizations, but they have important Dutch-based companies in Montreal; which include KLM Airlines, Philips Electronics, and Dekuyper distillers.
