2016 RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards Open Call for Nominations

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - January 05, 2016) -   Canadian Immigrant magazine is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the eighth annual RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards.

The program is presented by Canadian Immigrant magazine and is proudly supported by founding and title sponsor RBC Royal Bank. Since 2009, 175 outstanding Immigrants have been chosen for this coveted award for their inspiring contributions to Canada. Their achievements have been celebrated and their stories shared with Canadians across the country. 

A nominee can be anyone who has immigrated to Canada and has since contributed to the diversity and success of this country and/or its people. Achievements can be either professional or personal. Nominees must hold landed immigrant (Permanent Resident) or citizen status in Canada, and must reside in Canada.

"This year will mark 200 RBC Top 25 winners since the awards inception, which is truly an inspiring statement about the contributions that immigrants make to their adopted country of Canada," says Margaret Jetelina, editor of Canadian Immigrant magazine. "This year we want to hear from all past winners, nominees and readers about who they believe deserves to join this amazing group of individuals."

Some of the past winners include two former Governor Generals of Canada Adrienne Clarkson and Michaëlle Jean, national broadcaster Ian Hanomansing, celebrity entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson and star chef's Vikram Vij and Sursur Lee, to name a few.

This national award asks Canadians to nominate and then vote directly for individuals who have made a difference since their arrival in Canada. More than 600 nominations were received from across Canada in the 2015 awards program.

"These awards serve to uncover and celebrate the inspiring stories and achievements of Canadian immigrants," said Christine Shisler, director of cultural markets, RBC. "Past winners have been a dynamic mix of people who have made an extraordinary contribution to Canada. We're also excited to once again include the RBC Entrepreneur Award to recognize one of the Top 25 winners who has demonstrated excellence in business achievement."

Nominations can be made by visiting canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25 until February 25, 2016, 11:59 pm EST. A distinguished panel of judges will review all nominees and present a list of 75 finalists who will be profiled online in March, after which all Canadians can vote for their favourite nominees.

The 25 winners will be announced in June 2016, and will be recognized in the July print edition of Canadian Immigrant magazine and online on canadianimmigrant.ca. Winners will also receive a commemorative plaque and $500 towards a charity of their choice provided by RBC. Media partners include Toronto Star, Metro, Sing Tao and South Asian Focus.

About Canadian Immigrant

Attracting more than 400,000 readers each month and over 100,000 visitors a month online, Canadian Immigrant is a national magazine, distributed in Toronto, Vancouver and in key centres across the country, which helps new Canadians build a successful life and home in Canada. Its mandate to inform, educate and motivate provides easy-to-access content for newcomers looking for information from careers, education and settling in to culture and business. Our website, canadianimmigrant.ca, offers daily editorial, forums, tools and resources to further help newcomers across Canada. Canadian Immigrant is a division of Metroland Media Group, a dynamic media company with more than 100 community and daily newspapers in print and online, as well as innovative websites including wheels.ca, goldbook.ca, flyerland.ca and localwork.ca.

ABOUT RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We employ approximately 81,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 37 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.‎

RBC helps communities prosper, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2014, we contributed more than $111 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $76 million and $35 million in sponsorships.