My Delegate and Membership Experience with the Canada Guyana Chamber of Commerce: 2026 Trade Mission in Guyana - Answering the Call

Three months into my Canada Guyana Chamber of Commerce membership, I went to Georgetown as a delegate on the first trade mission the chamber has ever run.

Here is a snapshot of my delegate experience:

I joined the Canada Guyana Chamber of Commerce in July. By the third week of October, I was in Georgetown with twenty nine other delegates, sitting in rooms I could not have booked on my own, with ten meetings arranged for me before I landed.

Here is what got me there.

In May, at the chamber's annual gala, in a room with more than five hundred people, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, said it to me directly. Come home and find where you can apply your skills. Your talent is needed.

I was sceptical. It was a gala. The room was full of consultants and business owners and diplomats and people running companies far bigger than mine, so I assumed he said some version of that to most of us. A kind public invitation, not a summons.

Then the stars aligned: The chamber was planning its first trade mission during Small Business Month, and I'm ready to launch a new service offering in January 2027, plus deliver my new signature workshops - Retention That Sticks; the timing couldn't be more perfect!

Travelling to Georgetown, Guyana

I travelled with Caribbean Airlines, direct! For years, getting to Guyana meant stopping in Trinidad. Port of Spain, a layover that could eat half your day. It is now about five hours, nonstop. Both of my flights landed early. The crew were funny and kind plus takeoff and landing were flawless. It's my understanding that more flights are coming for this route. That changes things. Not just for people going home to see family, but for anyone trying to run a business across the two countries and needing to plan a week around it.

The Cheddi Jagan International Airport was bright, modern, spotless, and built so that you work out what to do next without being told. Baggage and customs took no time at all. I stood there thinking that a few airports in our part of the world could learn something.

My family picked me up, and over the next week I noticed that Guyana is still very much a cash country. Wads of it in hand at the market, with the taxi drivers, with the bus drivers. Digital payment exists, but cash is still what most people reach for. I am curious what that looks like in a year, and in five, especially in hospitality.

On that note, I was glad to see how strong Scotiabank's footprint is in Guyana. I recently opened a personal account with them here in Canada, and knowing the same bank operates there takes a real question off the table for anyone trying to work across both countries - from a commerical bank perspective.

Landmark Hotel: Pegasus Hotel Guyana

I stayed at the Landmark Pegasus Hotel on purpose. I grew up hearing my father and my relatives talk about the Pegasus the way people here talk about a landmark hotel, and I wanted to see it for myself.

It was built in the early sixties and has been renovated - washroom, closets, etc. I felt safe, and the amenities did the job. A Mediterranean restaurant, a second(all cusiines) restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Guyanese flair, a bar by the pool, and a pizza depot. My stay was wonderful, relaxing and fun. Special shout-out to Mr. Robert Badal, CEO of Pegasus Hotel & Suites and the entire Pegasus staff.

The forum itself was next door at Atlantic Suites Hotel by Hyatt on Seawall Road, which some natives refer to as the new Pegasus - less than 2 min walk from the landmark Pegasus Hotel, which was very convenient! The space was comfortable, the staff were excellent, and the chamber had built the day so that you could actually speak to the people who had just been on stage. That is rarer than it should be.

Day one ran just under six hours and went quickly. Devon Harnarain, the chamber's Executive Director, called it to order. Board Chair Lilian Chatterjee gave the welcome. Jerome Dookie of Beharry Holdings Inc. spoke, representing as the presenting sponsor.

The Honourable Susan M. Rodrigues, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, gave the official opening address, and the Honourable Deodat Indar, Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, gave the ministerial response.

KPMG presented a thought leadership report on the Guyanese market, delivered by Simon Townend and Jack MacKenzie. Numbers, sectors, where the gaps are. Not a sales pitch for KPMG, an actual read on the economy from people who had done the work.

GO Invest, the national investment office, also took a session on investment and market entry. Useful to know they are in the room and accessible, though their focus is capital coming in, which is not what I was there to offer.

The afternoon closed with a business panel moderated by Jake Thomas of Greenstone Consulting, with Dr. Vishnu Doerga of ActionInvest Caribbean, Nafeeza Gaffoor of Scotiabank Guyana, Amrita Henriques of Demerara Bank and Ryan Burrowes of Burrowes Marine Services.

Every speaker laid out a challenge and then put a solution beside it. No one stood up there to be congratulated.

And then there was the sentence I went home with. Minister after minister said the same thing. This is not only about oil and gas. Guyana needs professional services. It needs skilled trades. It needs the professions that sit around an energy sector and hold the rest of an economy together while it grows.

I'm a solopreneur with a Brampton-based consultancy with a very specific niche inside professional services. Hearing that from the stage, repeatedly, from people with the authority and scope, told me exactly why I was in the room and it was a good decision to come.

I sat that day with a group of women, mostly from the financial sector, and a contractor with years behind her in construction and infrastructure. They were warm, they were curious about Canada, and they wanted to know what I did and what solutions I offered.

One more thing about day one, and it carried through the whole mission. There was no hierarchy. No cliques, no running order by importance, no sense of you're too small or unknown to join or be invited to conversations. From heads of very large organizations, the High Commissioner and his staff, prominent executives, and first time delegates like me, all in the same conversations, all curious about what each of us wanted to contribute. This was my first delegation abroad, so I cannot tell you whether that is normal, but coming from years of working in corporate setting, I can tell you I noticed.

The evening on day one ended at the High Commission building in a part of Georgetown that is beautiful and clearly where the diplomats and government sit. Open bar, and a lot of good natured conversation and laughs about enough with the speeches; most of us here are Guyanese, and we would like a drink now! lol.

The question I asked ten times

The chamber paired me with ten Guyanese companies and sent me the list in advance, which meant I did not land and improvise. I arrived with a takeaway package and pamphlets built for each company.

My work is client retention. I build the systems that keep clients after the contract is signed. Many of the companies were intrigued by my business model and curious about my leadership style, strategic approach and case studies.

The ten companies I met with spanned client services, telecommunications, manufacturing, marine services, skills trades education, tourism and hospitality.

I opened every conversation the same way. What happens after you win the Canadian client?

How or do you onboard new clients? How do you deliver? What happens in month three, when the first order/value has landed, how do you continue the momentum?

The answers were honest and direct. Some ended with I can really use your help!

Here is what I did not expect. Not once did anybody confuse what I do with customer service or customer experience. They understood client retention. They understood that retention strategies can contribute to the goal of predictable long-term revenue.

They understood that the fix is usually a mind shift in how you work rather than an expensive new tool, and that most of what I implement costs very little beyond standing up a CRM. In a country experiencing this much real-time prosperity, getting that immediately was a delight.

Six of the ten were strong direct matches, and I have been in conversation with all of them since. I look forward to deepening the rapport and building longer-term relationships built on trust, integrity, and the execution of result-based solutions.

The social that evening was at Black Magenta on Camp Street, sponsored and hosted by Ryan Burrowes of Burrowes Marine Services. Good food, everyone relaxed, and the jargon finally dropped. People talked about their kids and their marriages and what they actually want their lives to look like. I met a lot of women that night, mentors and coaches and leaders, some from the Canadian delegation and some based in Guyana. I also managed to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitoes, which I consider a personal victory. :)

The Chair's Circle: Exclusive Networking Event

Day three gave us the daytime back to follow up on our meetings, and the evening was the Chair's Circle at Realm, in the Crystal Room.

The Chair's Circle was an optional surprise and delight add-on to the delegation package, and a fundraiser for the chamber's programming. I was glad to contribute! It is also where nearly the entire board was, along with sponsors, heads of government departments and the Prime Minister. I did not meet him. I was in the room. If you go on a future mission, go to this as well.

Realm Steakhouse & Sky Bar is one of the newest properties in Georgetown, and the view is spectacular. Elegant, comfortable, and built for a room full of people standing and talking. There was a cigar bar, a solo steel pan player, and a rooftop lounge roomy enough that it never felt crowded, with a breeze on it that kept me out there far longer than I meant to be.

It was where I finally met the delegates I had missed on days one and two. It was also where I watched how this chamber treats its members, which, given what I do for a living, was the part I was really paying attention to.

Jerome Dookie asked me, more than once and from a few different angles, what membership journey was like so far. He was warm about it, and he was persistent, and he was not going to be satisfied with a polite answer. He oversees Beharry Holdings Inc., the mission's presenting sponsor, and he sits on the chamber's board. He opened day one with a very inspiring speech.

That is exactly what a board director should be doing, and in my experience very few of them do it. I assess member and client experience for a living, so I know how uncommon it is to be asked properly by somebody with the standing to act on the answer, three months into a membership. Most organizations wait for the exit survey.

So I told him the truth, which was that I did not have a complaint for him.

What I had instead was this:

• The sign-up was simple and seamless and included an onboarding call, which a lot of chambers miss as best practice.

• I met most of the executive board and the chair inside my first six months.

• The matched meeting list came to me in advance, which is the one thing that let me arrive prepared rather than improvising.

• The matching itself was thoughtful. Ten companies, and the fit was real in seven of them.

• The programme held its timing across three days - bravo!

• There was no hierarchy anywhere in it. Ministers, board directors and first-time delegates in the same conversations. #welcomed #belonging

• The forum was built so you could actually reach the people who had just been on stage.

• Everyone was treated with the utmost courtesy. Ministers, board directors and first time delegates in the same conversations.

And a note on the food, across the entire trip. Fresh, full of flavour, and sized for a room where people are standing and talking, which is a detail almost nobody gets right. Plus, the overall logistics for the mission were great - no issues, car service in place, and I felt safe.

That was Tamika Inglis, who ran the events side of the mission alongside the chamber's partners and executive team. Bravo Tamika!

Open House:  Automotive Renewal Technologies

One of the delegates, Automotive Renewal Technologies Inc., was holding an open house at their new warehouse and invited everyone out to see the vast space.

They are building something that will support the import sector and are looking to expand. By some coincidence, they turned out to be the same group I had sat with at the gala back in May. They made the mission even more enjoyable and are homies for life. #providence

That evening was the first time in almost six days that I had any time to myself, so I treated myself to a celebratory dinner at Fusion, at the new Pegasus. Delicious cocktails, appetizers, entrees, plus the space was lovely.

Queenstown

Stabroek Market first, on Water Street in the middle of Georgetown, under that cast iron clock tower that has been standing since 1881. Not culture shock, because it is a Caribbean market and I know what those are. What I was not prepared for was the driving. The minibuses in Georgetown are something to experience. My heart was in my throat more than once. But they always know when to mash the brakes, right at the moment you have given up hope. If you can drive in Guyana, you can drive anywhere.

Then Queenstown. Laluni Street, Albert, French. Both my parents are Guyanese, and this is my mother's corner of the city - her childhood home. I spent time with family, and with people who still remember my parents living on that street.

All week I had been in good rooms with serious people, talking about retention systems and market entry, as the founder of a Canadian agency. That Friday I was standing on my mother's street. It felt very surreal.

What I am taking home

I answered the call, and I am glad I did. The invitation in May was the reason. The chamber's trade mission was the route. Both of those things are true, and neither works without the other.

The mindset shifts quickly. It would be too easy to say that Guyanese businesses simply move faster. What I saw was a change in thinking, and the speed is in how fast that change lands. Once someone sees what retention does to their revenue, they are agreeing to next steps in the room, following up after it, and asking me back to finalize. Less hesitation than I am used to, and a need that exists right now.

Nobody had to have it explained. Client retention landed as client retention. That changed what kind of conversation I was able to have in ten meetings in one morning and, most importantly, not convince anyone that this is a good growth strategy.

The calibre of the matching was the surprise. CEOs, C-suite, people who sit on boards and are known across the country. Ten of them, matched to my work, through a membership I have held for six months.

Being prepared travelled well. Having the list in advance and building something specific for each company was the difference between ten introductions and ten conversations.

There is foundational work ahead for Guyana. The grid. Hospitality, as more people start arriving. The shift from a cash economy to a digital one. But the resilience is real, the cooperation is real, and the attitude is results first rather than another meeting about the meeting. That is not always what you find.

The Canada Guyana Chamber of Commerce

This was the first trade mission the Canada Guyana Chamber of Commerce has ever run, and running one internationally is considerably harder than running an event at home.

Three days, two countries, thirty delegates, a full programme, a ministerial lineup, a matching day with hundreds of individual meetings behind it, and a social calendar on top.

It went off without a hitch. I have spent enough of my career on the inside of member organizations to know what that costs.

Lilian Chatterjee, Board Chair, who made sponsors, delegates and members feel equally welcome, and who was funny and sharp doing it, thank you for your leadership.

Devon Harnarain, Executive Director, and Aldercy Peters, Administrative Manager, who have been excellent from the day I signed up in May. Thank you for all your hard work and congrats!

Jerome Dookie and Beharry Holdings Inc., the presenting sponsor and CGCC board director, who was so generous with his time at the Chair Circle event; thank you for the meaningful discussion and for encouraging me to see how I can potentially support Beharry Holdings Inc.'s objectives as it pertains to client engagement.

Pauline Chase, Attorney at Law at Ashton Chase & Associates and a director of the chamber. Twenty minutes with her, and she asked me the sharpest questions I have had about where I want to take my business. Not as a mentor and not as a coach, but as somebody who seemed keen to support my journey and present opportunities. I've always loved working with lawyers!

Tamika Inglis, again, because event work is invisible when it is done well, congrats, and I look forward to connecting when you come to Brampton.

Nafeeza Gaffoor, Country Manager of Scotiabank Guyana and a director of the chamber, and Amrita Henriques, Chief Innovation Officer at Demerara Bank. Both were kind, generous with their time, and a delight across the whole mission.

Kirk Arends, President of the Lottery and Gaming Division at Canadian Bank Note, took the time to speak with me and was lovely about it. He had come down to celebrate his team based in Guyana, which tells you something on its own, and this year marks thirty years of Canadian Bank Note in the country.

Ryan Burrowes of Burrowes Marine Services, also a director, sponsored and hosted the social at Black Magenta and welcomed every single delegate personally. Thanks for being so awesome and caring so deeply about the success of CGCC and its members.

Dr. Vishnu Doerga, who was generous with his time, met with me first over lunch on day one and then across the rest of the forum. His book is Bankable: A Proven System for Building a Credible, Profitable, and Scalable Business Without Chaos in Developing Countries, and it is on my desk now. What makes it worth your time is that it is built around pieces you take away and rebuild inside your own business, rather than worksheets you fill in once and never look at again.

That is exactly how I build my workshops, so I recognized what he was doing immediately. If you are growing something in a market that is still putting its systems in place around you, read it. You can find it at actioninvest.org/bankable, and most places books are sold.

Sonia Noel, whose Women in Business Expo was taking shape in the Pegasus foyer - to my delight, as the mission wound down. The thirty years of influence is doing triple duty this year, because she is also marking thirty years in fashion, and those celebrations launched at the Canadian High Commissioner's residence in Georgetown - Bravo! She is a designer out of Bartica who built Mariska's Designs, founded Guyana Fashion Week in 2007 to get local designers seen, and has written eleven books alongside it. Ron Fanfair wrote the proper account of how she got there, here, and her own work is at sonianoel.com. We met, we talked, and I look forward to continuing our conversation.

And the sponsors who made the forum possible. Beharry Holdings Inc as presenting sponsor, Demerara Bank Limited as gold, and Gafoors, Canadian Bank Note, Atlantic Suites Hotel, Guyana Port Inc, Guyana Lottery and Burrowes Marine Services as silver.

If you are reading this as a chamber member

As someone who joined three months ago and could easily have experienced the membership solely in Canada, I'm so glad that I took a leap of faith to share my passion for client centricity and how retention strategies can truly help predictable long-term revenue.

Thirty of us went, out of roughly five hundred members, on the first trade mission this chamber has ever run. I came back with live conversations, an invitation to return, and a much clearer view of where my work fits between these two countries.

And if you are a Guyanese company already selling into Canada, or about to be, I would like to hear what your first year actually looked like. Not the version for the website. The real one.

I am going back in 2027. I am looking forward to deepening the relationships I started in those ten meetings, to the trade mission and other future delegations, and to finally seeing other parts of this beautiful country that I now also consider home.