March is when our Chamber receives nominations for the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards. It is a glorious tradition that launched more than 25 years ago when the ICCC began honouring achievers with its annual awards. Over the years, the awards have become coveted and prestigious. We continue to honour exceptional Indo-Canadians in eleven categories and an independent advisory board decides who wins in each category. The Chamber’s board and its staff do not have any role in the selection.

Over the years, the awards have grown to encompass many spheres including entrepreneurs, professionals, technology, corporate executive, young achiever, humanitarian, lifetime and of course the member award. What is equally pertinent is that the ICCC has been among the first organisations to acknowledge crucial role that women play in all spheres and have been awarding women entrepreneurs and professionals for several years. The selection process has remained stringent and on occasions, a category has gone unrepresented when the advisory board has not found any suitable candidate in a particular category.

One of the most amazing aspects of the ICCC Annual Awards is that the awardees recognised by the ICCC subsequently go on to achieve greater glories. In that sense, the ICCC has been a talent spotter, especially in the spheres of young achievers and technology awards categories, and no less important is the role of the awards in bringing to the attention to the mainstream of the Canadian society.