10 Immigrants Who Changed Canada For The Better

Conservative MP Larry Miller says newcomers who want to change Canada should “stay the hell where [they] came from." But if it weren’t for bold immigrants like these, Canada wouldn’t be the awesome country it is.

1. Alexander Graham Bell

Flickr / Via Flickr: mharrsch

We like to claim the inventor of the telephone as our own, but the Scottish-born Bell immigrated to Brantford when he was 23. Once he got there, he made a point of learning the native language, Mohawk.

2. Steve Nash

Flickr / Via Flickr: keithallison

South Africa birthed him, but Vancouver claims all the glory for raising the greatest point guard in NBA history, and for making America’s favourite Canadian-invented game even more Canadian.

3. Olivia Chow

Flickr / Via Flickr: 75511860@N00

Olivia Chow’s family didn’t have much money when they came to Toronto from Hong Kong, but her early experiences drove her to establish free dental care for the city’s poorest kids and to successfully demand apology for immigrants who paid Canada’s discriminatory Chinese head tax.

4. Senator Mobina Jaffer

Flickr / Via Flickr: ukincanada

Exiled from Uganda with her family and “nothing but the clothes on our backs,” Mobina Jaffer has come a long way since her early days in Vancouver. The first Muslim senator, first African-born senator, and first senator of South Asian descent now works to promote diversity, human rights and healthcare, and to end violence against women.

5. Peter Mansbridge

Flickr / Via Flickr: thompsonrivers

Did Canada’s most prominent news anchor develop his signature gravitas during his first radio job in Churchill or in his early years in London, England? Does it matter?

6. Harriet Tubman

H. Seymour Squyer / Via en.wikipedia.org

Renowned abolitionist and Underground Railway “conductor” Harriet Tubman lived in St. Catharines between 1851-1857, helping fugitive slaves escape across the Canadian border.

7. Bharat Masrani

TD/Flickr / Via Flickr: jeepersmedia

Back in the mid-2000s, current TD Bank president Bharat Masrani worked with former president Ed Clark to dump the bank’s risky assets, a choice that helped Canada’s largest bank – and Canada – avoid the worst of the Great Recession. Macleans rated Masrani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, the 7th most powerful person in the country.

8. Donovan Bailey

Electroman / Via commons.wikimedia.org

Canada’s Olympic medal count would be two golds shorter if it weren’t for Jamaican-born sprinter Donovan Bailey.

9. Lakshmi Raj

Via replicon.com

Born in a small town in India, Raj co-founded Replicon, a time-sheet and expense-tracking software company, with her family’s savings. She is respected for her entrepreneurial success, her philanthropy and her self-professed commitment to “Growing a company, building people.” In 2011, The National Post named Raj one of Canada’s most powerful women.

10. Robert Munsch

Flickr / Via Flickr: chrisandautumn

As an American, Robert Munsch was an unknown daycare teacher with a gift for storytelling. He got his big break – and his first Canadian passport – in Guelph.

Now grab your copy of I Love You Forever, and let's all cry some grateful tears for all the awesome immigrants making Canada a better country.