17th Annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, Presented by Western Union
Celebrating the story of Canada by sharing the journeys of immigrants including notable food entrepreneurs, a TikTok star, an artistic director, community leaders, innovative scientists and more
TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– With nation-building and Canadian pride on people’s minds across the country, we can’t forget that the story of Canada includes the individual stories of immigrants who have helped build this nation. For the 17th year, Canadian Immigrant, with the support of presenting sponsor Western Union, is recognizing and celebrating these nation builders with the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards of 2025.
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, also supported by COSTI and Edward Jones, is the first and only national awards program celebrating immigrant success stories from coast to coast, serving as role models for other newcomers choosing Canada as their new home.
This year’s Top 25 will join an inspirational list of past recipients who are community, culture, scientific and business leaders.This year’s list includes a founder of one of Canada’s most celebrated breakfast cereal companies, the founder of a popular Mediterranean fast casual chain, a TikTok influencer, a dancer and artistic director, a billionaire investor, scientific and STEM innovators, as well as community champions working tirelessly to uplift others.
“We are so proud to announce the recipients in the 17th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, in partnership with Western Union,” said Sanjay Agnihotri, Publisher of Canadian Immigrant. “Sharing their stories is sharing the story of Canada — a nation built by brave individuals who leave everything they know behind to start fresh in a new land — and make it better as a result of their hard work and determination. We, at Canadian Immigrant magazine, are honoured to be a platform to celebrate their efforts and impact. Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients.”
“Throughout our 175-year long history, one thing has never changed: connecting people with their families and loved ones wherever they may be, */and enabling them to build better lives. This mission is particularly resonant here in Canada, where the diversity of our communities is one of our key strengths,” said Carl Pierce, Head of Canada for Western Union. “We are proud then to sponsor these prestigious awards, pay tribute to the contributions made by those that call our country their new home and support them as they seek to fulfil their aspirations.”
Among the Top 25, we have again selected one winner as our Youth Award recipient, and one as our Entrepreneur Award winner. Ukrainian-born Andrian Makhnachov, 22, a social media start documenting his life as a newcomer, is the Youth Award recipient. Sam Osmow, founder of Osmow’s restaurant chain, is this year’s Entrepreneur Award recipient, presented by COSTI.
This year, Edward Jones has come on board to sponsor a new award to celebrate a professional from among the Top 25 who exemplifies leadership and impact. The Leadership Award goes to Simone Le Gendre.
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2025 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. More than 50,000 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 a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Western Union’s platform provides seamless cross-border flows and its leading global financial network bridges more than 200 countries and territories and over 130 currencies. We connect businesses, financial institutions, governments, and consumers through one of the world’s widest reaching networks, accessing billions of bank accounts, millions of digital wallets and cards, and approximately 600,000 retail locations. Western Union connects the world to bring boundless possibilities within reach.
About COSTI
Meeting the needs of a diverse society since 1952, COSTI is a community-based diverse social impact agency providing employment, educational, settlement and social services to all immigrant communities, new Canadians, and individuals in need of assistance. COSTI strives to be a leader in community service by using a client-focused, proactive, and innovative approach in planning, developing, and delivering services. Our programs ensure that regardless of language or cultural barriers, people communities are able to access information, use their existing skills and learn new ones that accelerate their ability to engage broadly and deeply in all aspects of Canadian society. Operating from 18 locations in Toronto, York Region and the Region of Peel, COSTI provides services in more than 60 languages. We help over 39,000 individuals receive assistance.
About Edward Jones
Edward Jones is a full-service investment dealer which provides a range of investment products, services, and solutions to retail investors. We have more than 870 financial advisors in Canadian communities from coast-to-coast. A member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, the firm is also a participating organization in the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit edwardjones.ca.
Contacts
Canadian Immigrant
Laura Jackman, 647-212-0549
ljackman@metroland.com
Western Union
Brad Jones
Bradley.Jones@wu.com