The Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations has named Bernardo Riveros 1 of the 10 most influential Hispanics in Canada. Riveros is a director of ILAC, the most awarded English language school in the world. The International Language Academy of Canada provides training to more than 10,000 international students a year from over 70 different countries.
Three hundred executives, media and diplomats from various Spanish speaking countries, along with numerous community members, attended the national event organized by HispanicBusiness.ca.
“It has been a privilege to join the recipients of this year’s awards on this memorable evening,” said His Excellency Guillermo Rishchynski, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, himself a ’10 Most’ recipient in 2008. “The Contributions made by Hispanic Canadians are a tribute to their commitment to Canada and to our multicultural country.”
Since 2007, sixty Hispanics from seven provinces and 13 countries of origin have been selected by past winners and executives from CBC, Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Canadian Aboriginal & Minority Supplier Council, Canadian Council for the Americas, Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance and the University of Ottawa. Canada’s 740,061 Hispanics are generally five years younger and more likely to be university educated than other Canadians. Most Hispanics live in the Greater Toronto Area and over 70 per cent have arrived in the last twenty-five years, according to a Statistics Canada study. A recent survey ranks Spanish as the third most commonly spoken language in Canada.
Some of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians of 2012 include:
• Francisco Alvarez (Colombia, ON): Artist, Director, Institute for Contemporary Culture – Royal Ontario Museum
• Mario Canseco (Mexico, BC): International expert in polls and surveys – VP, Angus Reid, civic supporter
• Dr. Rafael E. Castan (Dominican Republic, QC): Cardiologist at Jean-Talon Hospital, hero to 1,400 people
• Victor J. Garcia (Argentina, ON): Tech visionary, former Chief Technology Officer with HP Canada
• Jose Ortega (Ecuador, ON): Award-winning artist, civic supporter and entrepreneur – Lula Lounge
• Gil Penalosa (Colombia, ON): Expert on urban planning and healthy cities, Director of 8-80 Cities
Copa Airlines, Ingle Insurance and TLN TV were national sponsors of the event. “Ingle International has offered travel insurance products to the Hispanic community in Canada for over 85 years. We are honoured to support a community that positively impacts Canada,” said Robin Ingle, Chairman of the company.
For more information about ILAC and studying English in Canada, visit http://ilac.com/
