In the General Manager’s office at Stewart Overhead Door in Delaware, Ontario, a Canadian flag hangs prominently on the wall. It isn’t just a decoration. It is a statement of intent.
To the casual observer driving through Middlesex County, the flag might look like standard office decor for a long-standing local construction business. But for Rishi Deonarine, who earned his citizenship in 2022, that flag represents a journey that began 4,000 kilometres away in Trinidad and Tobago. It marks the endpoint of a transition from newcomer to neighbour, and from eavestrough installer to the executive leadership of a multi-million-dollar operation.
Rishi’s story is a personal triumph, but for Middlesex County, it is something much larger. It is a blueprint.
As the region faces a historic shift in its workforce, Rishi Deonarine proves that the solution to rural Canada’s leadership gap isn’t always found in the next generation of local graduates. Sometimes, it’s found in a survival job, waiting for the right door to open.
To understand the magnitude of Rishi's achievement, you first have to understand the quiet crisis unfolding in the majestic, truck-lined concessions of rural Ontario.
Economists call it the “Succession Tsunami.” In the London-Middlesex region alone, there are nearly 60,000 active business establishments. Based on national data, approximately 41% of these business owners intend to exit or retire within the next five years.
That creates a staggering “Shadow Number”: roughly 18,200 local business owners will be looking to pass the torch by 2030. The problem? Provincial data suggests that 73% of them have no formal plan for who comes next.
For decades, the assumption in rural manufacturing and construction was that the business would pass to family, or perhaps a long-time foreman. But as demographics shift and youth leave for urban centers, the pool of candidates willing to manage blue-collar industries is shrinking.
This is where Rishi Deonarine enters the frame, as the prototype for a new kind of rural leadership.
Rishi did not arrive in Canada with a hard hat in his hand. He arrived in 2018 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's in Small and Medium Enterprise Management. He came with a resume that should have opened doors immediately. Instead, like so many skilled immigrants, he hit the wall of "Canadian Experience."
"We thought jobs would be waiting," Rishi recalls of those early days living in a Fanshawe College residence with his wife and three children. They weren't. The credentials that commanded respect in Trinidad were met with silence in Ontario.
To support his family, the man who now manages a staff of 48 people took a job installing eavestroughs. For two years, he worked in the demolition and installation phase of the construction industry, navigating the physical shock of Canadian winters and the mental shock of underemployment.
This is the part of the immigrant narrative we are used to hearing: the struggle. But what makes Rishi’s story different is that he didn’t treat the survival job as a waiting room. He treated it as reconnaissance. He was learning the rhythm of the Canadian job site, the expectations of local homeowners, and the grit required to earn respect in the trades.
While working days in the cold, Rishi was building his exit strategy. He enrolled in Occupation Specific Language Training (OSLT) at Fanshawe College.
Funded by the government, OSLT is designed precisely for this moment. It doesn't just teach English; it teaches the cultural nuance of the Canadian workplace; how to manage conflict, how to run a meeting, and how to translate foreign expertise into local value.
"Learning the job and learning to respect others helped a lot," Rishi says. He was learning to lead.
In August 2020, he applied to Stewart Overhead Door. He was hired as an Install Manager. He admits he "knew nothing about doors" and felt intimidated. But he knew about systems, and he knew about people.
In a move that earned him the nomination for this campaign, Rishi didn't hide in his office. He went out into the field. He worked alongside the technicians, learning the mechanics of the garage door trade from the ground up until he could install a door himself.
That is the currency of the rural economy. You cannot manage what you are unwilling to do.
Today, Rishi is the General Manager of Stewart Overhead Door. He manages a team of nearly 50 employees in a sector that is notoriously difficult to staff and manage.
His nominator, notes that Rishi’s "business acumen" and leadership skills made him the "natural pick" for the top job.
This is the pivot point that challenges every stereotype about rural immigration. We often imagine newcomers filling entry-level labor gaps; framing houses or harvesting crops. We rarely imagine them running the company.
Rishi is stewarding a legacy. He is ensuring that a vital local business, one that services the homes and barns of Middlesex County, remains profitable and organized. He has brought engineering discipline to a trade-based workflow, maximizing productivity in a multi-million-dollar operation.
He represents a new demographic reality: The "Blue-Collar Executive."
Why Middlesex? Why Delaware?
For Rishi, the answer is simple. "Traffic," he jokes, noting the difference between his previous life and the open roads of the County. But deeper than that, it is the community.
Data shows that while immigrants are increasingly choosing mid-sized communities, retention is the challenge. London-Middlesex is fighting to keep its newcomers, aiming for a 70% retention rate. Rishi is one of the success stories who chose to stay.
He speaks of neighbours who help one another and a workplace that feels like a family. His children volunteer in the local community. The integration is complete. The roots have taken hold.
As we look toward 2030, with 18,000 local business owners looking at their exit strategies, the question of "who will lead?" looms large.
Rishi Deonarine provides the answer. The next generation of leadership for Middlesex County's businesses may not have grown up on a local concession road. They may be arriving right now, with degrees in their suitcases and a willingness to work that cannot be taught.
In his office, the Canadian flag hangs on the wall. It’s a reminder that while Rishi was born in Trinidad, his legacy is being built right here, one door at a time.
"The first and utmost thing that a newcomer wants to feel is being welcomed in the new community and getting the opportunity to work with Canadians. I feel I am getting there, whether at work or through daily interactions with my neighbours."
- Rishi Deonarine