The Canada India Foundation is a Canadian

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

established in 2007. The main stated objective of CIF comprises promoting

Canada–India relations Canada and India established bilateral relations in the 19th century. Both are member nations of the Commonwealth of Nations and are part of G20, a group of world's largest economies. In 2023, bilateral trade between the countries was valued at ...

through their active intervention in public policy, which would cover domestic policies and

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

issues affecting the

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term ''East Indian'' is sometimes used to avoid confusion with Indigenous groups. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a furthe ...

community, including issues such as culture, education, trade and investment, immigration, diplomatic, political, and strategic relations.

Origin

The idea of an organization that would harness the collective influence of the Indo-Canadian community and Canadian friends of India to promote the development of public policies aimed at stronger ties between Canada and India, was mooted by a number of prominent Indo-Canadians based in Greater Toronto Area (GTA), in 2007. The discussion resulted in the incorporation of Canada India Foundation, a non-profit corporation, whose membership would be based on invitation and include industrialists, business leaders, senior executives and top tier professionals, with track record of achievements as well as passion for Canada-India ties. Its first initiatives were the organization of a Gala with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and India's former President Dr. Abdul Kalam as chief guests and the creation of the CIF Global Indian Award. Initial members of the Foundation came from the Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver areas, with the objective to have representation in all provinces of Canada, and also to have an Indian presence.

Mandate

Canada India Foundation has taken a leadership role in fostering support for stronger bilateral relations between Canada and India, greater engagement of the Indo-Canadian community in Canadian politics and public policy and increasing awareness of the changing face of India. 1) CIF works to foster stronger bi-lateral relations between Canada and India. Through active participation in the public policy debate and active engagement with Parliamentarians, CIF positions the need for a strategic partnership between Canada and India as critical to Canada's future 2) CIF works towards raising the profile of Indo-Canadian community by facilitating: - Participation by qualified members of the community in the policy-making and the legislative process, - Engagement with federal and provincial legislators in areas such as immigration, professional accreditation and security - increased representation of the community within crown agencies, government boards and judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals 3) CIF takes an active role in increasing the awareness of Canadians about the changing face of India, and the promotion of Canada's interest in India.

Governance

CIF is managed by an Executive Team that is selected by the Board of Governors. The Governors appoint officers of the corporation, namely Chair, Vice-Chair, National Convener, Treasurer and Secretary. The Chair and National Convener in consultation with the rest of the Board are responsible for establishing the directions of the organizations and approving initiatives for any year. All operational aspects of the Foundation are managed by the Executive Director, appointed by the Board. The Board is elected for a 2-year term. The Executive Team appointed in 2018 comprises Anil Shah (Chair), Satish Thakkar (National Convener), Pankaj Dave (Co-Convener), Rupesh Kapadia (Treasurer), and Vijay Sastry (Secretary). The following is the list of Chairs and National Conveners who have served CIF since its inception: 2007-2009 Chair: Surjit Babra; National Convenor: Ajit Someshwar 2009-2011 Chair: Ramesh Chotai; National Convenor:

Aditya Jha Aditya Jha is a Nepalese Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and social activist. A globetrotter, his business portfolio consists of several startups and companies turnarounds with interests in Canada, Nepal, Thailand and India. He also runs ...

2011-2013 Chair: Barj Dhahan; National Convenor: Rahul Shastri 2011-2015 Chair: V.I. "Lucky" Lakshmanan; National Convenor: Laj Prasher 2015-2018 Chair: Ajit Someshwar; National Convenor: Anil Shah 2018 -2020 Chair: Anil Shah; National Convenor: Satish Thakkar National Co-Convenor: Pankajkumar Dave 2020 - 2023 Chair: Satish Thakkar; National Convenor: Ritesh Malik National Co-Convenor: Sunita Vyas 2023 - Chair: Ritesh Malik; National Convenor: Sunita Vyas National Co-Convenor: Chetan Handa

Initiatives

As a public policy organization, CIF has engaged in dialogue with leaders in the Government to understand the policy perspectives of the Government and to provide input where appropriate. CIF has met and held discussions with Canadian and Indian national and regional ministers, the Canada India Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group, High Commissioners of Canada in India and India in Canada and others in public and private sector. CIF was privileged to organize three visits by India's former President, Dr. A.P.J.

Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam ( ; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian Aerospace engineering, aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the president of India from 2002 to 2007. Born and raised in a Muslim family in Ramesw ...

, including a meeting with Canada's Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

. CIF Members have accompanied Prime Minister Harper on both his delegations to India, in 2009 and 2012. CIF instituted the first Award of its kind to honour one individual of Indian origin, whose accomplishments make the entire Indian diaspora proud. The Canada India Foundation ("CIF") Global Indian Award, which carries a cash prize of $50,000 towards a charity of the recipient's choice, has been presented to

Sam Pitroda Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, popularly known as Sam Pitroda (Born, November 16, 1942), is an Indian official, telecommunications engineer, and entrepreneur. He was born in Titlagarh, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, into a Gujarati f ...

Tulsi Tanti Tulsi Tanti (2 February 1958 – 1 October 2022) was an Indian businessman best known for being the founder and chairman-cum-managing director of Suzlon. He was known as the "Wind man of India" (or India's 'Wind Man') and was the president of the ...

Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata (28 December 1937 9 October 2024) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He served as the chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons from 1991 to 2012 and he held the position of interim chairman from October 2016 to Feb ...

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author, New Age, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthi ...

, N.R. Narayana Murthy and

. Both Canada's then Prime Minister Stephen Harper and India's then President Abdul Kalam were honoured guests at CIF's first Global Indian Award Gala. In addition, CIF and it
Board of Governors members
have helped establish and support India-focused studies in Canadian universities. CIF organized two visits by Dr. Kalam to Canada, in 2008 and 2010. A compilation of his talks, titled "Prosperity and Peace for the Twenty-First Century", was published in 2012 by CIF.

Canada India Forums

One of Canada India Foundation's main initiatives is the organization of theme based Canada India Forums, highlighting specific sectors of opportunity for Canada and India to collaborate, both in trade and in non-trade related areas such as research, social policies etc. To-date, Canada India Foundation has organized 4 Forums: Canada India Energy Forum (2009) - Toronto, Canada Canada India Mining Forum (2010) - Toronto, Canada Canada India Agriculture and Food Processing Forum (2012) - Vancouver/Saskatoon, Canada Canada India Infrastructure Forum (2014) - Ottawa/Toronto, Canada Canada India Healthcare Summit (2015) - Toronto, Canada Canada India Foundation Higher Education Forum (2018) - Toronto, Canada Canada India Foundation Higher Education Forum And India Mission (2019) - New Delhi/Gandhinagar, India Canada India Healthcare Summit (21 May 2021) - Toronto, Canada The Forums bring senior public and private stakeholders from both Canada and India together to dialogue and make policy recommendations that can be implemented by the two countries for mutual benefit.

CIF Global Indian Award

The CIF Global Indian Award is an annual award for an Indian or person of Indian origin. It was established in 2008 by the Canada India Foundation to recognize excellence and celebrate achievement in the global Indian diaspora. The award is presented to a recipient who has demonstrated global leadership, vision and professional excellence that has made all people of Indian origin extremely proud of their Indian heritage. The award is in the form of a trophy accompanied with donations of $50,000.00 to approved charities in the name of the award recipient. Several members of Canada India Foundation also make contributions towards each year's Award amount.

Award recipients

*2023 -

Sudha Murty Sudha Murty (; born 19 August 1950) is an Indian educator, author, and philanthropist. She is the Founder-Chairperson of the non-profit charitable organization Infosys Foundation. She is married to the co-founder of Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murt ...

, Chairman, Murty Trust *2022 - Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Group *2019 - Hon. Stephen Harper, Former Prime Minister of Canada *2018 - Sparsh Shah, Child Prodigy - Rapper and Motivational Speaker *2017 -

Swami Ramdev Ramdev (born Ram Kisan Yadav between 1965 and 1975), also known by the prefix Baba, is an Indian yoga guru and businessman. He is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting la ...

, Yoga Guru, Founder - Patanjali Yogpeeth, Patanjali Ayurved *2016 -

Subhash Chandra Subhash Chandra Goenka (born 30 November 1950) is an Indian billionaire media baron. He is the Chairman Emeritus of ZEE and Chairman of the Essel Group, an Indian media conglomerate and founded Zee TV in 1992. He was also the chairman of Z ...

, Chairman, Essel Group *2014 - Narayana Murthy, Co-founder and former Chairman,

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

*2012 -

, Alternative medicine advocate, public speaker, writer *2010 -

, Chairman,

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

*2009 -

, Founder & CEO,

Suzlon Suzlon Energy is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational wind turbine manufacturer headquartered in Pune. History Tulsi Tanti was a Gujarati people, Gujarati businessman managing a small textile company. Due to the erratic availa ...

*2008 -

, Chairman, India's National Knowledge Commission Prime Minister of Canada

and former Indian president Dr.

presented the inaugural CIF Global Indian Award in 2008.

References

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External links

canadaindiafoundation.com/
official website Indo-Canadian organizations Foundations based in Canada 2007 establishments in Canada Organizations established in 2007 Canada–India relations