The "Czech Weekend in Ottawa" on October 24-26, 2025 brought a rich program of celebrations of the  107th anniversary of the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia. This joint project of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa and the Czech and Slovak expatriate communities in Canada included social, cultural, diplomatic and sporting events.

Ambassador Martin Tlapa opened the weekend  on 24 October 2025 by addressing the participants of Gala Evening of the Czech and Slovak Association in Canada – CSSK. During his speech, he thanked the leaders of compatriot organizations for their active efforts to spread the Czech language, culture and traditions in Canada and for the excellent cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa and the Consulate General in Toronto (full text of the speech is attached). The evening included the ceremony of awarding of the Masaryk Awards, which have been awarded by the CSSK since 1985 to individuals and organizations for their contribution to freedom and enrichment of the lives of Czechs and Slovaks in Canada. The laureates of this year awards are: Martin Jelinowicz, Miloš and Linda Králík, Miloslava Minnes, Robert Tmej and Romana Zemanová (awarded 2023, handed over 2025). Program of the evening included Czech and international music performed by musicians led by saxophonist Petr Čančura.

The 70^th anniversary Congress of the CSSK held on Saturday, October 25, 2025, was an opportunity for representatives of local CSSK branches from individual provinces of Canada to discuss the activities of the past two years, to exchange experiences, and to elect the leadership of the organization. Michelle (Míša) Čipera became the new chairwoman. The new chairwoman thanked her predecessor David Beneš, who decided not to run again, for the work he had done in previous years, and presented her plans for the future of the organization's headquarters operations, e.g. modernization of the organization's website and social networks in order to facilitate mutual information about all Czech expatriate events throughout Canada. A representative of the Embassy presented a message from the Special Envoy of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Czechs Living Abroad, Jiří Krátký (see attachment). Delegates of the 70^th Congress agreed on a strong interest in the active involvement of the young generation of Czech compatriots in the activities of this largest Czech and Slovak expatriate organization in Canada. Representatives of the Hostyn Association (Camp Hostýn) also spoke as guests at the Congress, and presented the facilities of this beautiful forest camp created by volunteering generations of Czechoslovaks near Montreal, Quebec, and invited children from compatriot families to participate in the traditional Czechoslovak summer children's camp Hostýn 2026, which is also open to those interested from the Czech Republic.

The culmination of the social part of the Czech Weekend was a concert of Czech music and a subsequent reception organized for the diplomatic and compatriot community by Ambassador Martin Tlapa. The concert at the Knox Church in Ottawa brought a profound musical experience while listening to the Czech and Canadian national anthems, Dvořák's Rusalka and famous arias performed by the opera virtuoso Whitney Leigh Sloan, who studied the perfect pronunciation of Czech songs also in Ústí nad Labem. The captivating piano component of the performance was performed by Zuzana Šimurdová and Mikołaj Warszyński, the piano "Duo Zumi" from Alberta, and Dvořák's New World Symphony, inspired by the music of the first inhabitants of America, among others, was performed. The concert was attended by more than two hundred listeners, including compatriots, diplomats and lovers of Czech music. The subsequent reception in smaller premises at the Czech Embassy welcomed mainly the delegates of the 70^th Congress, members of the Ottawa diplomatic corps, honorary consuls of the Czech Republic in Canada, military attachées, and heads of many Czech compatriot organizations.  

The weekend concluded with a sports event for the whole family – “the Sokol Run of the Republic”, which was organized on the occasion of the national holiday by Sokol Ottawa with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the 5th consecutive year. Despite the freezing temperatures in the morning, several dozen determined runners, from two-year-olds to seventy-eight-year-olds, bravely competed in 6 different categories. Participants were rewarded for their great sporting performances by beautiful medals in the shape of the Czech Republic, by Czech strudel and beer, Slovak goulash, and lovely autumn colors of Canadian nature. Vintage car Škoda 120L, in an excellent form, one of the very few Czech made Škoda cars in Canada, arrived from far away Toronto to cheer the runners.