Dr. Steve Gupta, executive chairman of The Gupta Group, was appointed to the 2021 Order of Ontario on November 4.
This is the province’s highest civilian honour, awarded to an Ontarian who has shown the highest level of excellence and achievement in any field, and whose impact has left a lasting legacy in the province, in Canada, and around the world.
Dr. Gupta immigrated to Ontario from India in 1971 with just $108 in his pocket and he is now recognized as a leader in the hospitality and condominium industries.
“It is an incredible honour to be appointed to the 2021 Order of Ontario and recognized in this
way, he said. “When we immigrated here in 1971, I wanted to provide more for my family and am humbled to have played a part, however small, in also helping Ontario communities grow.”
Over the last 40 years, he invested in and developed communities across Ontario for millions of citizens. He started by purchasing a single highway car and truck stop in Port Hope in 1978. Since then, he has built The Gupta Group, an award-winning organization with 25 hotels and counting across Ontario and Quebec, two high-rise residential properties and one commercial property and five more high-rise residential projects under development.
He developed many prominent projects that have led to thousands of jobs created in
Ontario. From 1981 to 1996 when Dr. Gupta developed several projects in Port Hope, the
town’s population grew by over 50 per cent. The Gupta Group’s 25 hotels and
counting have also directly uplifted tourism for core communities across Ontario.
“I have watched my father, since my early childhood years, work so hard to build up The Gupta Group from one gas station in Port Hope to what it is today. He is an inspiration, a mentor, and a true example of humble excellence,” said Reetu Gupta, chairwoman and ambassadress of The Gupta Group.
Aside from these achievements, Dr. Gupta made it his personal mandate to lead philanthropic
initiatives around the globe. He built Eye Camps in rural India, where over 50,000 patients have been treated for eye disease, given life-changing surgeries, and more. He helped Gujarat after the devastating earthquake and built sanitation systems for girls’ schools.
He also has supported the Toronto International Film Festival for over a decade through sponsoring the Steve and Rashmi Gupta box office. He has also sat on numerous governing boards including Centenary Hospital/Rouge Valley Health System, Ontario College of Pharmacists, and the University of Toronto, to name a select few.
Dr. Gupta has received dozens of other awards and honours including the Skills of Change
Entrepreneurship Excellence Award, the Transformation Institute’s Innovation Award, RBC’s
Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for
Ontario (Real Estate and Hotels). He is also a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and
Gold Medal, in addition to receiving the prestigious Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Ryerson University.
