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North Delta’s Tanpreet Parmar crowned Miss Canada 2024

Hopes to use her title to raise awareness of mental health, societal/media pressures around beauty
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North Delta’s Tanpreet Parmar was crowned Miss Canada 2024 on Tuesday, May 19 at the pageant gala in Montreal. (submitted photo)

If there’s one message that Tanpreet Parmar wants to get across, it’s that true beauty comes from within.

The 29-year-old North Delta resident was among two dozen finalists competing for the title of Miss Canada in Montreal last month, claiming the crown at the pageant gala on Sunday, May 19.

“Honestly, it felt like I was dreaming,” Parmar said of hearing her name announced as Miss Canada after three previous attempts at the title.

“Going after it for the fourth time, to really put in that work, to really work on my self-growth, and then finally win … it was an unreal feeling.

“I don’t even know how to explain it because in that moment I coudn’t believe it. I mean, I could believe it, but at the same time it’s like, ‘Is this really happening?’ It was great, I was just really grateful and really happy. I was full of tears, good ones. It was just a feeling of accomplishment.”

Her win was not just the culmination of three days of judging at Miss Canada events, but a decade of pageant experience.

Parmar grew up in North Delta, attending Sunshine Hills Elementary after family moved to the community in 2000 and graduating from Seaquam Secondary in 2012.

She was crowned Miss Charity British Columbia in 2014 and claimed the title of Miss India-Canada in 2016, before taking the first of her four runs at Miss Canada in 2019.

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“I decided to do Miss Canada particularly because it is a personality pageant,” Parmar told the Reporter.

“The pageant is a few days because they really take the time to actually get to know the girls. You’re really judged on who you are as a person, your personality, how you interact with the [other] girls, how you present yourself throughout the days … just seeing you as a person.”

Half of a contestant’s score is based on their participation and attitude over the three-day event — including during one-on-one interview with a previous Miss Canada winner — while 35 per cent is awarded during the gala itself (what people likely picture when they hear “pageant”) and 15 per cent comes via online voting.

Parmar previously competed at Miss Canada in 2019, 2020 (where she placed second runner-up) and 2021 before taking a two-year break to focus on her mental health.

“I was going through a really tough time in my life personally and battling through my own personal struggles, when I decided that I had to a step back from everything to really self reflect and grow as an individual, focus on my mental health and do what was best for me at that time,” she said.

That focus led Parmar to work with Canadian charity Stigma Free Mental Health Society, partnering with them as an educator and speaker to advocate for mental health awareness.

“We do [virtual] presentations for students all over Canada on mental health, mental illnesses and stigma, and I really started to relate a lot of my presentations to my personal story and the things that I’ve battled with.”

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She said Miss Canada’s focus on personality aligns with her cause of promoting self-love and acceptance in the face of unrealistic standards of beauty perpetuated in entertainment and on social media, a passion for which she draws from her own struggles with perfectionism, body image, anxiety and depression.

“With all of the media pressures that are out there and the unrealistic standards … I just think that right now with our generation, and even the younger generation, it is getting worse and that’s something that I really want to raise awareness about,” she said.

“It is important to understand that it is out there, but it’s not necessarily always real and it’s important not to let these pressures and these picture-perfect portrayals make us feel that we aren’t good enough or that we need to change ourselves. It’s really important to embrace self-love and embrace our own uniqueness. I truly believe beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, and it can be hard to really understand and grasp the idea of self-love and really, truly be our authentic selves because of what’s out there and the pressures we face every day.”

Her hope is she can leverage her new title to shine even more light on the issue.

“What we get to do with the title is entirely, in a way, up to us,” she said. “I’ve already been working with different organizations to promote mental health awareness with that focus and sharing my journey and experiences, but obviously with a platform like Miss Canada we are able to get a bigger reach.”

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Parmar said she would also like to reach out to schools to help break down stigma around mental health and build up awareness of societal and media pressures and unrealistic standards of beauty.

“Personally, really struggling through my high-school years and growing up being a young woman who battled with perfectionism and body image, it was all due to these things,” she said. “So being able to represent the title and … exemplify what really, truly matters, which is our inner beauty and what true beauty is and what pageants are really about, is something I really want to do.”

In the meantime, Parmar, who has a bachelor of business administration in human resources from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, continues to work her nine-to-five job in human resource management. And while her employer has been “super supportive” throughout her journey, giving her time off when needed, she anticipates the next year being a busy one.

“I don’t plan on quitting my job or anything of that sort,” she said. “It’s just going to be about being organized and balancing, making time for things that matter. I was already quite involved in the community in general, whether it be hosting fundraisers or participating in events, so some of it will be different and some of it won’t be different, but I do anticipate it being a busy year for me, which I’m completely okay with.”

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North Delta’s Tanpreet Parmar (third from right) was crowned Miss Canada 2024 on May 19 at a gala in Montreal. Also pictured, from left, are Miss Teen Canada first runner-up 1st runner up Anna-Maude Larocque, Miss Teen Canada second runner-up Sara-Jade Lambert, Miss Teen Canada Maélie Bérubé, Miss Canada first runner-up Geneviève McSween and Miss Canada second runner-up Karyssa Chininea Alemán. (submitted photo)


James Smith

About the Author: James Smith

James Smith is the founding editor of the North Delta Reporter.
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