Residents and newcomers from across Abbotsford gathered on September 14th to celebrate the community’s diversity and inclusion at the 4th Annual Welcome Day Celebration, hosted by Archway Community Services in partnership with the City of Abbotsford.

Held at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium as part of the national Welcoming Week initiative, the event brought together community members, service providers, and local leaders to recognize the contributions of newcomers and foster a greater sense of belonging for all.

“Welcome Day helps facilitate meaningful connections and ensures that everyone who chooses to call Abbotsford home feels welcomed, valued and supported. It was wonderful to see community members come together as one and talk about how we can be pillars of support for one another and further contribute to Abbotsford,” shared Abhinoor Sidhu, event organizer, Diversity Education.

The event opened with remarks from Sidhu and the rest of the Archway Diversity Education team, who organize Welcome Day each year and welcomed attendees to the evening.

Diversity Education Team

A new addition to this year’s event was a community leaders panel discussion featuring Mayor Ross Siemens, Abbotsford School District Superintendent Dr. Nathan Ngieng, and Abbotsford Police Chief Constable Colin Watson. The panel explored the importance of creating welcoming communities and highlighted the role that local institutions from city government to schools and policing, play in helping newcomers feel safe, seen, and genuinely part of the community.

“Often times, people want to talk about our differences. I think we need to talk about our uniqueness, and there is so much that brings us together, whether it’s our faith backgrounds, whether it’s our food, our sports, our interests in music, those are the things that unite us and so I think we have to start, first of all, by talking about who we are, where we came from, and what unites us.” said Mayor Ross Siemens.

For Dr. Ngieng, that sense of belonging starts in the classroom. “I think the School District and our schools are uniquely positioned to support this idea of belonging. Often times schools are the hub, they’re the newcomers first and pretty consistent connection to the wider community,” he said, pointing to the strengths new families bring, including a sense of community and the power of story to help amplify the successes of students and families alike. Later adding, “How do we not only provide access to services and to be the conduit by which we can get support services but how do we embrace and utilize the story of their success to build on a strength-based approach, to bring them into the community, to share their story of resilience, success, strength, so that we can build that sense of belonging; we can demonstrate that we’re listening and valuing their experiences to make the community better as a whole.”

Chief Constable Colin Watson spoke to the role of public safety in that same foundation of trust. “We spend a lot of time creating opportunities and community events, whatever it is that we can do, so that seeing a police officer in uniform like this is a normal part of everyday business and that we are approachable and a safe place to be whether you’re 3 or 83.”

Watson said those everyday interactions are what ultimately build confidence in policing and strengthen relationships within the community. “Public trust comes from one interaction at a time, every interaction, with every officer, every time,” he said.

Following the panel discussion, attendees were treated to a musical performance by local artist Amy Van Bergen, whose set, sung in multiple languages, reflected the evening’s spirit of cultural connection.

Attendees enjoyed a musical performance by local artist Amy Van Bergen.

The celebration then turned to this year’s keynote speakers Tammy Brandsma and Hani Kambal, who shared the inspiring story of how a single act of private citizen sponsorship evolved into a legacy of friendship, shared responsibility, and community connection.

“Their story invites us to consider how welcome moves through families, friendships and generations. It reminds us that welcome is not charity or rescue. It is a relationship that can transform everyone it touches. The question is not only, who is welcome here in Abbotsford, it is, what kind of community does Abbotsford become when we all practice welcome,” prefaced Muhi Bakini, supervisor of Archway Diversity Education.

Kambal, who arrived in Canada in October 2025, after a sponsorship process more than 12 years in the making, described the vulnerability of starting over in a new country. “I described myself as an iceberg,” he said, “looking strong on top, but no one knew what was going on at the bottom.”

Brandsma, who sponsored Kambal and his family said: “It is humbling as adults to begin again, and many of you feel this. To try and sometimes fail and to keep trying until you succeed; at job applications, at English tests, at driving, incredible perseverance is required and I didn’t realize how much before they [Kambal and his family] came.”

Nearly a year into building a life in Abbotsford, and through his friendship with Brandsma and her family, Kambal said he has come to see how much newcomers and longtime residents share. “What we have learned in these past months of living alongside each other, is that we have far more similarities, more than we have differences,” he said. “For example, we both love our children, our families and we deserve the best and that is possible for all of them. We both inspire them to meaningful work and want to contribute positively to the lives of those around us.”

Kambal closed the pairs joint keynote with a hopeful message: “When genuine and natural friendship happens, welcome becomes belonging.”

The annual Abbotsford Welcome Day Celebration continues to foster meaningful connections, celebrate cultural diversity, and strengthen a shared sense of belonging, reflecting Abbotsford’s ongoing commitment to building a welcoming and inclusive community for all.