NATO Association of Canada

The NATO Association of Canada (NAOC; formerly the Atlantic Council of Canada)^[1] is a non-governmental organization founded in 1966 to promote knowledge and understanding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Canada.

NATO Association of Canada

Abbreviation	NAOC
Formation	1966
Type	Registered charity
Purpose	Promote knowledge and understanding of NATO
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Key people	Robert Baines (CEO)
Affiliations	Atlantic Treaty Association
Website	natoassociation.ca
Formerly called	Atlantic Council of Canada

About

The NAOC is a member of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The ATA coordinates similar organizations in forty other NATO member states and Partnership for Peace (PFP) nations. According to its website, the NAOC's mission is to "promote peace, prosperity, and security through knowledge and understanding of the importance of NATO."^[2]

The organization is chaired by former Minister of Defence David Collenette, while Robert Baines serves as its President and CEO.^[3] NAOC operates from its national office in downtown Toronto, Ontario, supported by a team of professional staff, volunteers, and interns across the country, including in Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal.

The association organizes and promotes a variety of events, including conferences, seminars, roundtable discussions, and speaker dinners and lunches. It also hosts an annual Spring Conference in Toronto and a Fall Conference in Ottawa. To educate Canadians about NATO, NAOC publishes several articles per week on topics related to peace, prosperity, and security.^[4]