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Winners were honored and awarded in two separate ceremonies, June 24th Toronto and June 25th Vancouver. The sponsored events by RBC and Chevrolet in cooperation of Canadian Immigrant Magazine proudly announced this year’s people’s choice for top 25 Canadian immigrants.
“There is no limit to what an immigrant can achieve in Canada, and these 25 winners are a testament to that,” says Margaret Jetelina, editor of Canadian Immigrant magazine. We congratulate the winners who come from diverse backgrounds and experiences, and thank everyone who nominated or voted for this amazing list of difference-makers.”
At the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver, nine of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants 2015 were given awards. Celebrity chef/restaurateur Vikram Vij (Vancouver/India) also has been selected for the Chevrolet Ingenuity Award and philanthropist/president of Alive Health Centre Alice Chung (Vancouver/Malaysia) for the first RBC Entrepreneur Award.
Vij tells Simply The Best TV Show in an interview, “I always want to bring awareness to my cuisine and culture, and I felt that Canada is a great place to start as a young entrepreneur, as a young businessman, and somebody who’s a young chef who didn’t have a lot of experience but has the desire to go on and be successful in what you want to do.”
Chung enthusiastically adds advice to empower newcomers. “Don’t give up, and stick with it like I do. There are obstacles in every aspect, personal, job wise, and mixing with the community, or mixing with other culture. Don’t give up and everything will be fine,” she said.
Eastcoast winners honoured in a ceremony held at the RBC Waterpark Place in Toronto.
Two proud Surrey residents were also honored as a dedicated community volunteer and RCMP Auxiliary Constable Amrick Singh Aulakh (Surrey, BC/India) who is active with the Surrey Crime Prevention. “I’m really proud to be Canadian. Whatever I have learned, whatever I have got from the society while volunteering is exactly what I’m trying to give back to the society.” said Aulakh.
Maria Nieves Santos-Greaves, owner of Surrey Hearing Care (Surrey, BC/Philippines) was also recognized for doing free hearing tests with her mobile clinic van. Santos-Greaves felt overwhelmed. “To the newcomers, don’t be afraid to dream, and if you dream, dream big,” she said.
From Calgary, Alberta, two outstanding individuals were given recognition. Japanese born but of East Indian descent real estate mogul Bob Dhillon (Calgary) considered as the largest landlord in North America is a 2015 outstanding immigrant. He says, “My family came with nothing… the opportunities are here because you’re here… second is hard work, innovation, taking action, education… but the most important ingredient is that you’re here in Canada.”
“My family came with nothing… the opportunities are here because you’re here… second is hard work, innovation, taking action, education… but the most important ingredient is that you’re here in Canada.”
Umashanie Reddy, executive director of the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, (Calgary/South Africa) a non-profit that helps new immigrants was the second Calgary based immigrant recognized. He happily says, “We lavished Canada. We contribute to the socio-economic value of society and we are so proud of our children because they have exceeded our expectations and have done us proud.”
Three more Canadian immigrants, settlement worker in schools Soheila Ansari (Coquitlam, BC/Iran), John Chang (Richmond, BC/Taiwan) owner of Lulu Island Winery and. Ana Maria Zuniga (North Vancouver/Chile) president of AZ World Translation and Interpretation Inc has also received awards.
On empowering new immigrants, Ansari says, “By sharing experiences, by being honest to them, by telling them they’re going to face some challenges. But knowing Canada is really a place where they can reach their dream, I really believed in it. And because it comes from my heart and I’m so passionate about it, they believed me.”
Zuniga loves Canada so much, “We have amazing people… not so amazing, you keep what you like and what makes us better… the mixture is what makes Canada.”
Canadian Immigrant Magazine reported, “More than 650 nominations were received in less than two months, from which 75 finalists were shortlisted. Over 45,000 online votes were cast, making it the most popular in the award’s history. The final 25 were chosen based on a combination of votes and a second round of judging.
The RBC Top 25 award winners received a commemorative plaque and a $500 donation to a registered Canadian charity of their choice.
“The people recognized by the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards have a true passion for our country, an inventive nature and are an inspiration to many.” said Paul Bailey, advertising manager of Chevrolet.
Congratulations to all the winners! A full list of the awardees are available on the Canadian Immigrant Magazine Website.
