View the VIBE’s 2023 POWER 60: Inspiring Asian-Canadians of Influence

With the Lunar New Year celebration just around the corner, we knew it would be the perfect time to celebrate inspiring Asian-Canadian talent with a special edition feature of our second-annual POWER 60 list. But not just Lunar New Year celebrating Asians, any and all Asian-Canadians were considered, for whom we believe deserved the spotlight. From CEOs, the POWER 60 List also includes Medical Doctors, Media Moguls, Actors, Philanthropists, Journalists, Restaurateurs and much more. All with one common denominator…inspirational tenacity, from across the country, we all know and love, Canada.

Shortlisting these powerhouse Asian Canadians, was no easy task, because Canada has MANY who inspire us. So to balance things out, once again, instead of ranking them…we decided to list them alphabetically–because they’re all number ones. But to help us paint a picture and showcase some local Toronto inspiring talent, our editors also hand-picked 6 Inspiring Leaders to Watch in our cover feature editorial, seen here.

The 60 most inspiring influential Asian-Canadians right now

Listed in no specific order of priority, just sorted alphabetically.

Ajay Virmani

Founder of Cargojet

Andrea Jung

President & CEO, Grameen America, Inc.

Andrew Phung

Actor, Writer & Producer (most recently known for his lead role and the co-creator of CBC’s Run the Burbs show) — selected as one of our 6 inspiring leaders to watch in 2023!

Ann Pornel

Actress, Comedian and Host (most recently known for her role as host of The Great Canadian Baking Show)

Antonio Park

Restaurateur & chef (most recently known for his newest addition to the Toronto culinary scene, opening AP Restaurant in Bloor-Yorkville)

Avvy Yao-Yao Go

Judge for the Federal Courts

Bilal Baig

Actor & Writer (most recently known for their lead role and co-creator of CBC’s Sort Of)

Bo Seo

CEO & Founder, KiBo Sushi

Christine Cruz-Clarke

CEO, Balzac’s Coffee

Clement Chu

President & Co-Founder (alongside other amazing co-founders Kagers Kuo, and more), CCYAA

David Suzuki

Environmental activist

Deborah Lau-Yu

Editor-in-Chief & Founder, Fete Chinoise & Palettera — selected as one of our 6 inspiring leaders to watch in 2023!

Domee Shi

Director (recently known for putting Toronto on the Pixar map with her work on Turning Red)

Dr. Eileen de Villa

Medical officer of health, City of Toronto

Elaine “Lainey Gossip” Lui

Co-host, eTalk

Evelyn Chick

Mixologist & Entrepreneur (most commonly known for her incredible contribution to Toronto’s bar and mixology scene, but also her recent involvement in bringing the Smorgasburg food event to Toronto)

Gabriel Yiu

Journalist & Social Activist (former Vancouver NDP candidate)

Hanif Harji

Serial Entrepreneur and Owner/Partner, Scale Hospitality Group — selected as one of our 6 inspiring leaders to watch in 2023!

Ian Hanomansing

Journalist, CBC

Jagmeet Singh

NDP Leader

Jeff Yim

CFO, Borrowell

Julie Kim

Comedian (most recently known for being the opener on Ronny Chieng’s “Hope You Get Rich” tour)

Julie Quynh Nhi Tran

Project manager, (The) Hoodstop Sexual Violence (also named a Noteworthy Canadian of Asian Heritage by the Government of Canada)

Justin Wu

Director, Photographer & Creative Director of T&T Supermarkets (Also View the VIBE’s April 2022 cover star alumni, and his recent episode for CBC’s Run the Burbs was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award)

Katherine Lee

Director on the corporate boards of BCE and Bell Canada, Colliers International Group and Public Sector Pension Investments

Kevin Au-Yeung

President & Founder, Innovision Holdings Corp. (parent company of Nobis outerwear brand); and President, Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs

Kristyn Wong-Tam

NDP MPP & LGBTQ+ Activist

Lance Chung

Editor-in-Chief, Bay Street Bull; and Editorial Director, Glory Media

Leen Li

CFO, Wealthsimple

Lilly Singh

Youtuber, Comedian & Actress (most recently known for their role as a judge on Canada’s Got Talent)

Lind Ann Loo

Lawyer, Judge & Innovator

Ludi Li

Actor (known for playing Zack Taylor in the 2017 Power Rangers reboot, the underwater warrior Murk in Aquaman (2018), Lance in a 2019 episode of the Netflix series Black Mirror, and Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (2021)

Madelyn Chung

Founder, RepresentASAIN Project

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Actress (known for their role in Never Have I Ever (2020-2022), and Turning Red (2022))

Manny Jacinto

Actor (known for his role as Jason Mendoza in The Good Place (2016-2020), Yao in Nine Perfect Strangers (2021), Logan in I Want You Back (2022) and Lt. Billy “Fritz” Avalone in Top Gun: Maverick (2022))

Mary Ng

Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development

Masaki Saito

Michelin Star Chef (the only Canadian contender of a 2-star Michelin rating for his restaurant in Bloor-Yorkville)

Melissa Grelo

Host, The Social; and Board member, WWF Canada; and Founder of ethical kids’ clothing line Marq Designs — selected as one of our 6 inspiring leaders to watch in 2023!

Mutsumi Takahashi

Chief News Anchor, CTV Montreal

Nuit & Jeff Regular

Power couple extraordinaire, Restaurateurs and Authors (and View the VIBE cover feature alumni)

Patrick Chan

Olympic Figure Skater, 10x Canadian Champion, 3x Olympic medalist, 3x World Champion

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

Actor, Comedian & Writer (most commonly known for his role a Uppa in Kim’s Convenience (2016-2021), Captain Carson Teva in The Mandalorian (2022-2023) and The Book of Bob Feta (2022))

“Priyanka” Mark Suknanan

Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 Winner (previously known for their work on YTV, out of drag)

Renée Suen

Food Editor, Blogto; Mid-USA & Mid-Canada Chair, The World’s 50 Best

Russell Peters

Comedian, entrepreneur and investor

Sandra Oh

Actress (commonly known for her role as Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy (2005-2014), Eve Polastri on Killing Eve (2018-2022) and Ming / Panda Ming / Young Ming’s voice in Turning Red (2022))

Sangita Patel

Host, ET Canada — selected as one of our 6 inspiring leaders to watch in 2023!

Seetarama Kotagiri

CEO, Magna International Inc.

Seigo Nakamura

CEO, Aburi Restaurants Canada

Simu Liu

Actor and Writer (commonly known for his role as Jung on Kim’s Convenience (2016-2021), Faaron on Taken (2017) and starring as Shaun / Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2022), but also for being an advocate for the Asian community in Canada, and abroad)

Stella Yeung

Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Scotiabank

Suresh Doss

Food Writer; Food Tour Producer; CBC Food Guide; & Event Co-Producer, Smorgasburg Toronto chapter

Tav & Jag Malhotra

President (left) & CEO (right), Mansha Financial Group

Dr. Theresa Tam

Chief Public Health Officer, Government of Canada

Tina Lee

CEO, T&T Supermarkets

Trevor Lui

Founder, Highbell Group; Co-founder, Quell Now Inc.; Celebrity Chef and Restaurateur; & Cookbook Author — selected as one of our 6 inspiring leaders to watch in 2023!

Tyler Shaw

Singer & Actor (commonly known for winning the “MuchMusic Coca-Cola Covers Contest 2012” organized by MuchMusic; and at Pilot Pete on The Meaning of Life (2017))

Vinay Virmani

Actor, Writer & Producer; Partner & Chief Content Officer, Uninterrupted Canada; & Investor (commonly know for his close ties to Drake and Lebron James, and recently investing in his tequila brand, Lobos 1707)

Dr. Vivienne Poy

Former Senator, entrepreneur, author, public speaker & community activist

Zaib Shaikh

Canada’s Consul General for LA, SoCal, Nevada & Arizona; Alumni, City of Toronto Film & Entertainment Commission; Actor, Writer and Director

Notable rising Asian-Canadians to also watch for in 2023:

These 60 listed above are just the creme de la creme, there are many more out there also making an impact, driving and inspiring change…and these are some of the ones we’ve had our eye on, and you should too.

• Abby Albino, Co-founder of Makeway
• Abhishek Dekate, Content creator & Food Network Canada contributor
• Angela Lee, Published professional make-up artist & film industry head of the make-up department
• Candice Chan, Co-founder Candice & Allison (event design and production)
• Devan Rajkumar, Celebrity chef, View the VIBE cover feature alumni, former restaurateur & content creator
• Duyen Huynh, Published professional hair stylist
• Lauren Chan, Size-inclusive fashion advocate; Model; Founder/CEO of Henning; Former editor of Glamour and Vogue magazines
• Melissa Austria, Founder/owner of GotStyle
• Norman Wong, Celebrity Photographer
• Radheyan “Rad” Simonpillai, Former editor, NOW Magazine; Film Critic, CTV’s Your Morning; Pop Culture Expert, CBCRadio; Friday Flicks Expert, CTVNews Channel; Contributor, Guardian
• Sean Go, Content creator, and on-air sneaker expert/enthusiast
• Wallace Wong, Rising celebrity chef & content creator
• Stephanie Valentine, makeup artist & beauty content creator
• Steven Tseng, Mixologist at W Toronto, on-air mixology expert on the Marilyn Dennis Show
• Daniel Shim, YouTuber and entrepreneur

editorial SHOOT Credits

Shot by: Nick Merzetti; Fashion/Art/Editorial Direction and Production by: Steven Branco; HMUA by: Angela Lee; Gaffer: Abe Roberto; BTS/PA by: Mursal Rahman; Set Design and Prop Curation Assistance by: Catriona Delaney and Casa Loma curators. Special thank you to all of the Casa Loma staff and Nadia DiDonato for their support and assistance.

Special thank you to our presenting sponsor: Parfums de Marly