18th Annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, Presented by Western Union

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The story of modern Canada is the story of immigrants coming to this land for freedom and opportunity. The recipients in this year’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards prove the contributions that immigrants continue to make in building this country are undeniable. Canadian Immigrant, with the support of presenting sponsor Western Union, is proud to announce 25 inspirational nation builders with the 18th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards.

The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards is the first and only national awards program celebrating immigrant success stories from coast to coast to coast, shining a spotlight on immigrants who contribute to Canada’s economy, innovation, arts and communities. The 75 finalists and 25 winners not only serve as role models for other newcomers in Canada, but their stories offer up inspiration for every Canadian who can trace migration in their own family line.

This year’s Top 25 will join an incredible list of past recipients who are community, culture, scientific and business leaders. The 2026 list includes several faces from television, a soccer icon, a standup comedian, an iconic architect, as well as community champions working tirelessly to uplift others.

“We are thrilled to announce the recipients in the 18th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, in partnership with Western Union,” said Sanjay Agnihotri, Publisher of Canadian Immigrant. “Immigrants to Canada are brave individuals who leave everything they know behind to start over in a new land. Through hard work and determination, they make Canada better as a result of their contributions. We, at Canadian Immigrant magazine, are honoured to be a platform to celebrate their achievements and impact. Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients.”

Among the Top 25, we have again selected one winner as our Youth Award recipient, and one as our Entrepreneur Award winner. Poshak Sachdeva, a young executive director from Abbotsford, BC, is the Youth Award recipient. Shivani Dhamija, founder of Shivani’s Kitchen in Halifax, is this year’s Entrepreneur Award recipient.

The Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2026 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. Thousands of online votes were cast at canadianimmigrant.ca. The 25 recipients were chosen based on a combination of votes and judges’ merit scores.

Recipients are now being featured online at canadianimmigrant.ca/top25 and in the August edition of Canadian Immigrant magazine.

About Canadian Immigrant
Canadian Immigrant is a national multimedia platform to help immigrants succeed in Canada, with content, resources and events on careers, education and settlement. The brand is the producer of the cross-country Canadian Immigrant Fairs, IEP career path Web Conference Series, and the Frist Generation podcast on the Torstar Podcast Network. Canadian Immigrant is a division of Metroland Media Group, a dynamic media company with leading community and daily news sites, as well as innovative websites including save.ca, wonderlist.ca, and travelalerts.ca. Learn more at canadianimmigrant.ca.

About Western Union
Western Union is committed to helping people around the world who aspire to build financial futures for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Our leading cross-border, cross-currency money movement, payments and digital financial services empower consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments—across more than 200 countries and territories and nearly 130 currencies—to connect with billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and a global footprint of hundreds of thousands of retail locations. Our goal is to offer accessible financial services that help people and communities prosper.