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.
ADVERTISEMENT  |
The 60 most inspiring influential Asian-Canadians right now
Listed in no specific order of priority, just sorted alphabetically.
Full Power 60 List Show
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!
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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!
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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!
ADVERTISEMENT  |
Ian Hanomansing
Journalist, CBC
Jagmeet Singh
NDP Leader
Jeff Yim
CFO, Borrowell
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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)
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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)
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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))
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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!
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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!
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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)
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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!
ADVERTISEMENT  |
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
