Nine South Asian were selected among the annual Top 25 Immigrant Awards recipients which includes Chief Statistician of Canada, an Ontario MPP and award-winning physical medicine and rehabilitation physician. Canada’s chief statistician Anil Arora, Ontario MPP Bhutila Karpoche and Dr. Sivakumar Gulasingam are part of the large South Asian contingent alongside coach John Herdman has been making Canada proud leading the national men’s team to the World Cup. He’s in good company on the 14th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Awards list; other winners include Kim’s Convenience star Paul Sun Hyung-Lee; and federal Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra, among other inspiring immigrants making Canada a better place.
By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada
TORONTO– Nine South Asian were selected among the annual Top 25 Immigrant Awards recipients which includes Chief Statistician of Canada, an Ontario MPP and award-winning physical medicine and rehabilitation physician.
Canada’s chief statistician Anil Arora, Ontario MPP Bhutila Karpoche and Dr. Sivakumar Gulasingam are part of the large South Asian contingent alongside coach John Herdman has been making Canada proud leading the national men’s team to the World Cup. He’s in good company on the 14th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Awards list; other winners include Kim’s Convenience star Paul Sun Hyung-Lee; and federal Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra, among other inspiring immigrants making Canada a better place.
Presented by Western Union, Canadian Immigrant magazine’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant
Awards is the only national awards program that celebrates the achievements of inspiring
Canadian immigrants. Winners are chosen from coast to coast, from diverse cultures and
demographics, and different backgrounds and industries. This year’s program is once again
supported by COSTI.
“We are so pleased to celebrate such amazing immigrants for the 14th year, now with the
support of our presenting partner, Western Union,” says Sanjay Agnihotri, publisher, Canadian
Immigrant magazine. “This year’s winners have shared the amazing stories of their journeys to
Canada, and they are all truly inspiring examples of immigrant success stories.”
“As a purpose-driven organization, Western Union stands together with our Canadian
customers to harness the power of remittances, giving them the means to foster greater
economic opportunity, while creating vibrant, welcoming communities,” said Serra Pinto
Avimlah, Go to Market Manager for Western Union Canada. “Today, as sponsor of these
prestigious awards, we celebrate success and recognize the numerous contributions from those
who have moved to Canada from all parts of the world. We stand here to support them as they
continue their journey in their new country.”
Among the Top 25, we have again selected one winner as our Youth Award recipient, and one
as our Entrepreneur Award winner. Nigerian-born tech entrepreneur Tosin Ajibola, 26, from New
Brunswick is our 2022 Youth Award winner and Mexican-born Karla Briones, a serial
entrepreneur and entrepreneurship professor, columnist and consultant from Ottawa, is our
Entrepreneur Award winner.
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2022 were chosen after an extensive nomination, judging,
shortlisting and public online voting process. Hundreds of nominations were received from
which 75 finalists were shortlisted by a diverse judging panel of past winners. Over 60,000
online votes were cast at canadianimmigrant.ca. The 25 winners were chosen based on a
combination of votes and judges’ merit scores.
TOP 25 IMMIGRANT LIST
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners of 2022:
Tosin Ajibola (Fredrickton, NB/Nigeria) – Founder and CEO of Welkom-U Inc. and named
one of the 30 under 30 innovators in Atlantic Canada.
Damineh Akhavan (Vancouver, BC/Iran) – Senior Engineer at De Havilland Aircraft of Canada
and Founder and CEO of Global Women in STEM Inc.
Patrick Alcedo (Toronto, ON/Philippines) – Award winning professor in the Department of
Dance at York University and documentary filmmaker.
Minister Omar Alghabra (Mississauga, ON/Syria) – Member of Parliament for Mississauga
Centre and Minister of Transport at Transport Canada.
Anil Arora (Ottawa, ON/India) – Chief Statistician of Canada and international speaker.
Mariam Bilgrami (Burnaby, BC/Pakistan) – Director of Grants and Community Initiatives at
Vancouver Foundation.
Karla Briones (Ottawa, ON/Mexico) – Award winning entrepreneur, founder of KB Consulting
and entrepreneur professor at Algonquin College.
Rita Chahal (Winnipeg, MB/India) – Executive Director, Mood Disorders MB and recipient of
Manitoba 150 Women Trailblazer Awards.
Diana Alli D’Souza (Toronto, ON/India) – President at Access Empowerment Council and
board member on several boards
Tracy Folorunsho-Barry (Edmonton, AB/Nigeria) – Award winning founder and CEO of
GROW Women Leaders and author.
Raquel Fox (Toronto, ON/Bahamas) – Chef, speaker, author, TV host and founder of Island
Gurl Foods.
Dr. Sivakumar Gulasingam (Toronto, ON/Sri Lanka) – Award winning physical medicine and
rehabilitation physician with the University health Network.
John Herdman (Vancouver, BC/England) – Head Coach of Canada’s Soccer Men’s National
Team.
Dr. Akshay Jain (Surrey, BC/India) – Award winning, triple board-certified physician,
researcher and author.
Bhutila Karpoche (Toronto, ON/Nepal) – Member of Provincial Parliament for Parkdale-High
Park.
Mohamed Lachemi, PhD. (Toronto, ON/Algeria) – President and Vice-Chancellor at Toronto
Metropolitan University.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Toronto, ON/South Korea) – Award winning actor, writer and
comedian.
Leen Li (Toronto, ON/China) – Chief Executive Officer at Wealth Simple Foundation.
Arnon Melo (Toronto, ON/Brazil) – Founder of MELLOHAWLK Logistics and board member of
the Canadian International Freight Forwarding Association.
Roda Muse (Ottawa, ON/Djibouti) – Secretary-General of the Canadian Commission for
UNESCO.
Amie Peacock (Vancouver, BC/ Philippines) – Founder of the award-winning grassroots
organization, Beyond The Conversation, working to bring community together.
Janaka Ruwanpura, PhD (Calgary, AB/Sri Lanka) – Professor, Vice-Provost and Associate
Vice-President, Research (International) at University of Calgary.
Harman Singh (Sydney/NS, India) – CEO of Breton Ability Centre and international speaker.
Ruairi Spillane (Vancouver, BC/Ireland) – Award winning entrepreneur and founder of
Moving2Canada.
Rui Wang, PhD. (Toronto, ON/China) – Dean of the Faculty of Science at York University and
professor.
