Tri-City restaurant owner and community activist Fred Soofi has been shortlisted as one of 75 finalists for the RBC Canadian Immigrant Awards.
In all, 630 people were nominated for the eighth annual awards, with the finalists' profiles posted online at canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25 for the voting phase of the program. Votes can be cast until May 15, with the top 25 selected by the judging panel and by popular vote.
Among Soofi's causes are affordable housing, heritage preservation and environmental protection.
After immigrating to Canada from Iran in 1974 at the age of 22, Soofi worked to pay for his university education, rose up in the ranks in the restaurant industry and opened an organic flour mill, as well as a restaurant in Coquitlam and at Simon Fraser University.
The owner of Pasta Polo in Coquitlam, he has supported several groups over the years, including Amnesty International, has run for Coquitlam council and served as a director of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce, Coquitlam Foundation, PoCoMo Youth Society, Laurel Foundation, Coquitlam Multicultural Advisory Committee and co-founder of the Tri-Cities Iranian Cultural Society.
He was also profiled in a book commemorating Canada's 125th birthday and immigrant heritage.
