In September 2002, the APRTQ organized and hosted the annual IASP convention (conducted in French), where more than 450 people coming from 45 countries were in attendance.

Several international calibre speakers delivered speeches, including:

• The Honourable Al Gore, Former Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001)
  Senator and Member of Congress, United States
• Mr. Georges Benko, Professor
  Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
• Mr. George Bugliarello, Chancellor,
  Polytechnic University, United States
• Mr. Patrick Dubarle, Principal Administrator
  OECD Territorial Reviews and Governance Division, OECD, France
• Ms. Susana Finquelievich, Senior Researcher
  University of Buenos Areas, Argentina
• Mr. Richard Florida, Professor of Regional Economic Development, Ph.D.
  Carnegie Mellon University, United States
• Mr. Per From, President and CEO
  AstraZeneca AB, Sweden
• Mr. James O. Gollub, Senior Vice-President
  ICF Consulting, United States
• Mr. Benoît Lévesque, Director, CRISES and ARUC-ES
  Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
• Mr. Hervé Sérieyx, President and CEO
  Groupe Quaternaire, France