Executive Summary:

“Visible Minority Radio and TV Network” (VMRTN) is a collaborative radio and television partnership set up in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Ontario, Canada to cater to the communication needs of the nation’s ever-growing visible minority groups in a unique, all-purpose setting. The company also fills the communication gaps among the sundry communities. Research has shown that the mainstream media in the country are not doing justice to the needs of these groups, thereby leading to lack of understanding between these groups and the majority population, on one part, as well as a lack of understanding even among the groups themselves.

In addition, due to lack of financial resources, the minority population has not been able to have a strong voice in the socio-economic and political activities of the nation, thereby limiting their potentials to reach their best while denying the nation the ultimate contributions of its diverse citizens. We believe that a radio and television network like ours will fill the service gaps thereby providing easier access towards attaining societal accomplishments.

Aim and Objectives:

• To provide visible minorities in Canada and beyond a strong access and voice for socio-economic and political mobilization

• To create an avenue where visible minority history, background, issues, problems, prospects and aspirations are more easily understood and appreciated by the mainstream population

• To create more understanding among the sundry visible minority groups in the nation, thereby providing them a unique, single channel to further appreciate their diversity as a form of strength rather than something to loathe

• To create a sense of unity among the various groups in the country, both the minority and the majority, thereby realizing that what unites us are far greater than what divides

• To create a sense of pride among minority groups and see their heritages as something to cherish and celebrate

• To help maintain, restore and uplift native languages of the diverse ethnic minority groups many of which are rarely used, especially by the youth and the new generation, several of them almost gone into extinction

• To provide another form of job and skills development opportunities for visible minorities, thereby affording them economic independence to be able to face life’s challenges in a positive manner

Need Justification

According to Statistics Canada, over five million Canadians identified themselves as a member of a visible minority group in the 2006 Census, accounting for 16.2% of the total population. This was an increase from 2001 where visible minorities accounted for 13.4% of the total population; an increase from 1996 when the proportion was 11.2%; and a major increase over 1991 (9.4%) and 1981 (4.7%). The increase represents a significant shift in Canada's demographics since the advent of its multiculturalism policies.

Furthermore, according to a report by the influential newspaper, Globe and Mail, “by 2031, one in three Canadians will belong to a visible minority. One in four will be foreign-born, the highest proportion since the end of the last wave of mass immigration that began around 1910. Even if immigration were to be suddenly slashed, experts say, the projections would not change much. Visible minority groups, which have higher birth rates and younger populations, are expected to grow at roughly eight times the rate of the rest of the Canadian population over the next two decades. Their ranks will grow from 5.3 million today to between 11.4 million and 14.4 million by 2031, one-third of whom will be Canadian-born”

This is the main reasons why our VMRTN network was born: to fill the huge gaps that are there in the community which are not being served by the mainstream media.

What we do: Our activities

We provide access to prime minority- focused radio and television channels and programmes that cater to the viewing tastes of visible minority population in Canada. Our goal is to complement the extremely limited number of broadcast channels available to the minority population in North America. Through a system of production and bundle of prime channels originating from a vast originating countries of our minority population in Canada, VMRTN brings the best in radio and television programming, movies, music, soaps, drama, lifestyle, fashion, and new media.

Our programmes come both in English as well as the various languages of the service populations. Our management, staff and volunteer population reflect the populations we try to reach, thereby making translations very easy and affordable. The movies that come in local minority languages are fully subtitled in English. This makes our entire programming accessible not only to minorities but to all English speaking audience.

How Does It work?

VMRTN Television Network Channels are available on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and online web streaming. Our streaming capability includes the following high-end features:

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