The city of Mississauga in Ontario announced hosting the second edition of the Canadian Arab Book Fair on April 13 and 14 next.

In an interview with local Canadian media, Riham Taima, the founder of the fair and the director of the organizing company, explained that "it presents a collection of bookstores and publishing houses from inside and outside Canada which in turn attract the Arab reader and make him experience the atmosphere of book fairs he is accustomed to in his home country in any Arab country from the Atlantic to the Gulf. In addition to the participation of many prestigious Canadian publishing houses which are among the oldest and most important publishing houses in Canada and the most influential in the publishing sector in America.

She confirmed that the fair will be organized for the second consecutive year in the heritage and cultural building known as (Samall Arms Inspection Building) located in the city of Mississauga in Ontario, where the spread of the Arabic language comes in fourth place after English, Chinese, and Slavic languages.

She pointed out that the Canadian Arab Book Fair will be organized concurrently with Arab Heritage Month in Canada.

Ms. Taima added that "the importance of Arab Heritage Month in Canada lies in the fact that it is a month that showcases the achievements and impact of one million Canadians of Arab descent in various fields, including culture and literature."

It is noteworthy that this month is an official declaration by the Canadian government under list 232C, which declared April to be the official month for celebrating Arab heritage across Canada.

"In a statement, Lindsay Matheson, a member of the House of Commons for London-Fanshawe (Ontario), said that "the Arab community deserves this positive form of recognition of its achievements; it is a large community and has a great impact on the economic, social, and cultural aspects which are reflected everywhere in cities and provinces."

"On his part, David McGuinty, a member of the House of Commons for Ottawa South, said that "Arab culture includes many aspects from food to music and from arts to literature; all have a positive influence on Canadian society."

The management of the Canadian Arab Book Fair announced honoring two Arab countries this year as guests of honor.

April 13 will be the day dedicated to the country of Iraq. April 14 will be dedicated to honoring the State of Palestine and highlighting its literary, cultural, and artistic achievements.

It is worth noting that the Canadian Arab Book Fair is a non-profit cultural institution. The cultural institution was established in April 2023 in the Canadian province of Ontario with the aim of organizing the annual book fair.

The trademark for the fair was registered in 2021.

Riham Taima said that "the vision of the fair is to spread Arab culture and literature throughout Canada. The fair is the first of its kind in Canada and specializes in Arabic books or foreign books translated from Arabic."