Celebrity Entrepreneur, Ballet Director, Women's Activist, Boy Genius and an Everyday Hero Among the Winners of the 2014 RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 24, 2014) - South African-born celebrity entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson of Dragon's Den has been named one of this year's RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants for not only her achievements, but her philanthropy as well. Other winners of the sixth annual RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant awards, presented by Canadian Immigrant magazine, include Macedonian-born Gradimir Pankov, artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Ugandan-born Farah Mohamed, president and CEO of the G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto, Indian-born child prodigy Sarthak Sinha of Calgary, and Bangladesh-born Manwar Khan, an everyday hero who intervened in a violent attack in Edmonton. The awards celebrate the inspiring stories and achievements of these and other notable immigrants to Canada.

"Every year, we have yet another amazing group of 25 winners. This year's 25 are as diverse as they are interesting," says Margaret Jetelina, editor of Canadian Immigrant Magazine. "Thanks to the people who nominated and voted for them, we have uncovered the inspiring stories of artists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, volunteers and activists from across the country who are truly making Canada a better place."

More than 630 nominations were received in just two months, from which 75 finalists were shortlisted by a diverse judging panel, including several past winners. More than 40,000 votes were cast online, making it the most popular year in the award's history. The final 25 were chosen based on a combination of votes and a second round of judging.

The award winners will be honoured at an awards ceremony in Toronto on June 24 and on June 26 in Vancouver. The program is proudly supported by title sponsor RBC Royal Bank and associate sponsor Chevrolet. The awards program is also supported by the Toronto Star, Metro Newspaper, Sing Tao, CBC Toronto and South Asian Focus.

"This year's winners truly exemplify the Canadian dream and are real examples of opportunity and diversity right here in Canada," said Christine Shisler, director, Multicultural Markets, RBC. "These awards do more than just recognize 25 of the best. The RBC Top 25 Immigrant awards create a community for all Canadians who have been recognized as inspirational by their peers. Whether they are new to Canada, or celebrating 20 years in this country, we recognize all of the nominees and winners for their outstanding contributions and for making a difference."

For the second year, associate sponsor Chevrolet will recognize one of the 25 winners with the Chevrolet Ingenuity Award for showing exceptional creativity and skill on their road to success. The winner will be announced at the Toronto ceremony.

"The people recognized by the RBC Top 25 Immigrant Awards have a true passion for our country, an inventive nature and are an inspiration to many," said Paul Bailey, Advertising Manager, Chevrolet. "It takes a significant amount of resourcefulness and creativity to come to a new country and break cultural and social barriers to achieve great success. The Chevrolet Ingenuity Award was designed to recognize the efforts of a truly inspirational individual."

Each of the RBC Top 25 award winners will receive a commemorative plaque and a $500 donation will be made towards a registered Canadian charity of their choice. Winners will also be featured on canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25 and in the July print edition of Canadian Immigrant Magazine.

About Canadian Immigrant and canadianimmigrant.ca

Attracting more than 400,000 readers each month and over 100,000 visitors every month online, Canadian Immigrant is distributed in Toronto and Vancouver and helps new Canadians build a successful life and home in Canada. Its mandate to inform, educate and motivate provides content for newcomers looking for information on careers, education and settling-in to culture and business. Our website, canadianimmigrant.ca, offers daily editorial, forums, tools and resources to help newcomers across Canada. Canadian Immigrant is a division of Metroland Media Group Limited, 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 services, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We employ approximately 79,000 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 42 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.

RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2013, we contributed more than $104 million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of more than $69 million and $35 million in sponsorships. Learn more at www.rbc.com/community-sustainability.

About Chevrolet in Canada

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.ca, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chevroletcanada or by following @ChevroletCanada on Twitter.