Balbir Singh Kakar was honoured with the Sikhs In Business Award at the recently held eighth annual Sikh Awards 2017.
The award is bestowed to an organisation or individual that can best demonstrate how it has made exceptional financial returns, shown strong growth, innovative strategies and clear market leadership in its sector.
Karen Johnson-Basra, who currently serves as a weather anchor/reporter for CBC Toronto and CBC Windsor, hosted the event.
The Sikh Awards recognise the pivotal contributions made by the Sikh community across a variety of fields, from business, charity, education, entertainment, professional services, selfless service and sport, with winners selected across the globe from Asia, USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
This year's winners included:
• Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Canada) - Special Recognition Award
• Balwinder Kaur Takhar (Canada) - Business Women Award
• Harmeek Singh (UAE) - Entrepreneur Award
• Sardar Ramesh Singh Khalsa - Pakistan Sikh Council (Pakistan) - Sikhs in Charity
• Bhai Sahiba Bibi Ji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa (USA) - Sikhs in Education
• Gurinder Kaur Chadha MBE (UK) - Sikhs in Entertainment
• Jagmeet Singh (Canada) - Sikhs in Profession
• Navdeep Singh Bhatia (Canada) - Sikhs in Seva
• Jinder Mahal (Yuvraj Singh Dhesi) (Canada) - Sikhs in Sport
• Jaspreet Singh Nyotta (UK) - The Sikh People's Choice Award
• Sardarni Mann Kaur Ji (India) - The Sikh Lifetime Achievement Award
This prestigious event saw over 500 guests in attendance from elite international dignitaries to public figures, community heroes, sports stars and celebrities.
Esteemed guests at the event included Minister Badish Kaur Chagger, Patrick Brown, Maxime Bernier, Randeep Sarai, Adrienne Batra, Peter MacKay, Bob Saroya, Dr. Ruby Dhalla and David Mirvish.
Each year, The Sikh Awards takes a theme as the central focus for the evening's celebrations. This year the event highlighted the 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as 150th anniversary of Confederation. 2017 marks a significant moment in the History of Canada.
This event also recognised and honoured the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji that took place on January 5, 2017 at Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji, Patna Sahib, one of the five seats of spiritual and temporal authority of Sikhism.
The paramount purpose of celebrating Guru Gobind Singh Ji's 350th birth anniversary was to pay loving tribute to the Saint-Soldier Guru, who not only created the Khalsa fraternity, but also blessed Sikhs with the highest exalted spiritual authority - Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
Another highlight of the event, hosted by the media organization The Sikh Directory, was the launch of the sixth edition of The Sikh 100 Power List, profiling the world's most prominent Sikhs in the global community.
The successful entrepreneur, Navdeep Singh, founded the Sikh Awards. Speaking about the event, Navdeep Singh said: "The Sikh Awards is now in its 8th glorious year.
Our purpose with the awards is to recognise, honour and celebrate the enormous achievements of the Sikh community who continue to contribute immensely to the social, cultural, and economic fabric of societies globally, as well as making a difference to people's lives through philanthropy."
