In a momentous occasion for the South-Asian community, seniors, and the city of Surrey, the PICS Society proudly participated in the historic ground-breaking ceremony for the Guru Nanak Diversity Village. This project is set to become one of the largest community developments in Canada, funded by the government to support seniors, and also amongst the largest global projects named after Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Guru Nanak Diversity Village project is going to be a 3-storey, 125 bed, residential care home that will provide culturally sensitive care to the seniors. PICS Society paid gratitude to the Fraser Health, BC Housing, Ministry of Health and the Provincial Government for providing the required $118 million financing and support for the long-term care facility.
“This was the vision and dream of the Founder and Founding CEO, late Mr. Charanpal Gill to build the Diversity Village for our seniors. And today, we are starting on our journey to build it and fulfil that vision”, said the President & CEO Satbir S. Cheema.
The ceremony was a significant event, bringing together key figures from various sectors to celebrate this landmark development. The key people present included:
- Minister Adrian Dix – Minister of Health
- Minister Ravi Kahlon – Minister of Housing, who also served as the emcee
- Brenda Locke – Mayor of Surrey
- Randeep Sarai – Member of the House of Commons of Canada
- Jagrup Brar – MLA Surrey-Fleetwood & the First Full-time staff member of PICS Society
- MLA Mike Starchuk – Member of the Legislative Assembly
- Garry Begg – Member of the Legislative Assembly
- Jinny Sims – Member of the Legislative Assembly
- Rachna Singh – Member of the Legislative Assembly
- Natalie McCarthy – Vice President, Regional Care Integration
- Satbir Singh Cheema – President and CEO of PICS
- Dr. Gulzar Cheema – Family physician, community leader, and PICS Society member
- Ranbir Manj – Chair of the PICS Board with current and few past board members
- Jack Gill – Son of Mr. Charanpal Gill, Founder and Founding CEO of PICS Society
- Anita Huberman – International Trade, Government Relations, Public Relations
- Indra Bhan – Interim CEO & Chief Operating Officer – Surrey Board of Trade
Staff members, volunteers, PICS Founding members, Lifetime and Regular members, donors, stakeholders, local temples, community members and leaders, the consultants who have worked on the project.
