Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa

The Department of Examinations has informed that arrangements could be made to hold the G.C.E. (O/L) examinations at Sri Lanka Missions/Posts abroad in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka for the children of Sri Lankan expatriates who wish to avail of such facility outside Sri Lanka.

The Department of Examinations will arrange all test administration proceedings. The funding should be borne by candidates.

Sri Lanka High Commission

Canada

08^th June 2018

The Matara Regional Consular Office of the Foreign Ministry was declared open today (15) jointly by Minister of Foreign Affairs Tilak Marapana and Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera. Several members of the Southern Provincial Council, members of local government bodies of the Matara District and senior government officials including the District Secretary of Matara and Divisional Secretaries of the Southern Province attended the opening ceremony.

Following the ceremonial opening, documents attested by the Matara Regional Consular Office using the e-DAS system were handed over to their owners by the two Ministers, as the first consular service provided by the new office.

Addressing the gathering, Foreign Minister Marapana stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take steps to open more regional offices in future particularly in the areas where a substantial number of families of migrant workers reside, enabling them to obtain consular services in their own districts, without travelling to Colombo. He appreciated the contribution of Minister Mangala Samaraweera as his predecessor towards taking the services of the Foreign Ministry to the people by first opening a Regional Consular Office in Jaffna.

With the opening of the Regional Consular Office, the general public is able to obtain consular services including attestation of birth, marriage and death certificates and other legal documents for their use abroad, assistance to family members of Sri Lankans stranded abroad, facilitation of redress and compensation claims of families of migrant workers and repatriation of human remains from abroad, among a range of services.

Minister Samaraweera thanked Minister Marapana for choosing Matara to open the Ministry’s second Regional Consular Office.

Earlier on, Acting Foreign Secretary, Ahmed A. Jawad, welcomed the Ministers, representatives of government agencies and the general public and thanked them for their support and presence. The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Director General Administration of the Ministry, Aruna Fernando.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

15 February 2019

Text in Sinhala (PDF)

Text in Tamil (PDF)

As a part of the initiatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take its consular services to the people, without having to travel to Colombo, the formal opening of the second Regional Consular Office in Matara will take place on Friday, 15 February 2019 at 10.30 a.m.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tilak Marapana and Minister of Finance and Mass Media, Mangala Samaraweera will declare open the office in the presence of Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Members of Parliament representing Southern Province.

Consular services to be extended to the public would include attestation of birth, marriage and death certificates, educational and other legal documents for their use abroad, extending assistance to family members of Sri Lankans stranded abroad, facilitation of redress and compensation claims of families of migrant workers and repatriation of human remains from abroad. The Regional Consular Office is located at No.391, Anagaraika Darmapala Mawatha, Matara. A regional Consular Office has been functioning in Jaffna since 26 January 2017.

The 71^st Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence was celebrated at the Sri Lanka High Commissioner’s Official Residence in Ottawa, Canada with the participation of over 120 Sri Lankan Community members.

The ceremony was commenced with hoisting the national flag and singing the national anthem in Sinhala and Tamil languages, followed by observance of two minute silence in honour of our National Heroes. The traditional oil lamp was lit by guests representing all communities and Sri Lankan associations based in Ottawa.  Religious discourses were delivered by the members of the clergy representing the Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Islamic faiths.

The message of President Maithripala Sirisena was read by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Canada, M.A.K. Girihagama, while those of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tilak Marapana were read by Ms. Sithara Khan, Deputy High Commissioner and Ms. Mithila Perera, Second Secretary of the High Commission.

Speaking on the occasion, High Commissioner Girihagama noted that the main challenge that Sri Lanka is facing today is bringing economic prosperity to the country. He enumerated several positive developments in Sri Lanka in terms of imports, exports, and tourism sectors and emphasized the need of committed and planned economic drive to a better economic growth in 2019.

The High Commissioner stated that the relations with Canada remains very warm and cordial and that the Mission’s priority was to strengthen trade and economic relations with Canada.

Referring to the substantial presence of Canadians of Sri Lankan extraction on the occasion, the High Commissioner referred to them as the greatest strength to Sri Lanka’s efforts in promoting bilateral relations with Canada. The 71^st National Day celebration was attended by the Sri Lankan community members including, particularly, a group of Tamil community members from the city of Montreal, depicting strong friendship and reconciliation.

A luncheon was hosted by the High Commission at the conclusion of the ceremony.

 Sri Lanka High Commission

Ottawa

04^th February 2019