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The Board and the staff the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) heartily congratulate our CEO, Fariborz Birjandian, on receiving the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal on September 27, 2022, for his incredible contributions to the province of Alberta in the areas of immigration and refugee settlement, integration policies, equal rights and diversity.
Fariborz previously received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his “outstanding exemplary contribution to the community and Canada as a whole.”
“I am truly honoured to receive the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal. This award is a recognition of the hard work of our staff and volunteers at CCIS and their relentless dedication to ensuring immigrants and refugees who call Southern Alberta home can continue to get all the support they need to reach their full potential in our province,” Fariborz said.
“I would also like to appreciate the Government of Alberta for their proactive and sustained support of different impactful initiatives that help newcomers to our province settle and integrate seamlessly. Our community and employer partners at CCIS are the incredible champions of change that enable us to make a significant impact with our work in the community, and this wouldn't be possible without them,” he added.
Fariborz came to Canada as a refugee and joined CCIS as a Settlement Counsellor 33 years ago, becoming the CEO in 1994.
Through his visionary leadership and peerless passion for newcomers, CCIS grew from a small charity founded by church volunteers to the largest immigrant serving agency in the Prairies and a recognized leader and innovator in the field of settlement and integration.
Fariborz is currently the national co-chair of Canada’s Afghan Resettlement Operation and serves on several local and global committees, boards and task forces focused on immigration, refugees, diversity, equal rights and the cultural arts.
He is also a recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal and the Government of Canada’s Citation for Citizenship, which acknowledged his “outstanding achievements that have exemplified Canadian values and the principles of Canadian citizenship, contributing greatly to newcomers and to the richness and strength of our country.”
In 2020, the Calgary Herald named him on its annual list of 20 compelling Calgarians.