July 1, Canada Day, it’s the one day a year we all wave the maple leaf.

A day when the nation comes together to celebrate what it means to be Canadian.

Canada is known for being a multicultural mosaic of people who come from diverse backgrounds.

So much so that multiculturalism in Canada is an official policy, ensuring that all citizens can keep their identities, take pride in their ancestry and still have a sense of belonging.

And nowhere is this more evident than at Peter’s Your Independent Grocer in Kelowna, where they celebrate Canada every day.

At Peter’s, you can get great Canadian foods like maple syrup, back bacon and smoked salmon.

But it’s not the food at Peter’s that reflects Canada, it’s in the people who work there.

“It’s more than just buying groceries,” said Peter Boyd, owner of Peter’s Your Independent Grocer.

“It’s a community.”

At his grocery store, Peter Boyd is building that community for everyone, from every walk of life, one employee at a time.

Boyd is doing that by employing people with diverse abilities and various multicultural backgrounds.

“We have people from all over the world that work here,” said Boyd.

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People like Shenice Lawrence, a native of Jamaica who’s worked at Peter’s for seven years.

Lawrence says the feeling of inclusion that working at Peter’s gives her is tremendously important to her and her co-workers.

“He hires us because he wants us to feel included,” she says.

“He wants the community to look and feel as the entire Canada is,” said Lawrence

As a second generation Canadian, Peter’s personal credo of inclusivity is something he says he learned from his mother

“We grew up poor and my mother told me that no matter what, nobody should bet left behind.”

So on Canada Day, here’s to a great Canadian, Peter Boyd and to the people that he employs that reflect the diversity of our great country.

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