Newly appointed Officer of the Ordre de Montréal, Roshi Chadha | Photo: Sylvain Légaré, Ville de Montréal
Two-time Concordia graduate Roshi Chadha, BFA 10, MA 14, was named to the Ordre de Montréal — the city’s highest distinction — in recognition of her 25 years of unwavering support of Montreal’s cultural life.
An art expert and collector, Chadha was appointed vice-chair of the board for the National Gallery of Canada in 2021. She is a former long-serving board member at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) and Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Specializing in Indigenous and Sikh art, Chadha has made it her mission to bring Indigenous art into the mainstream and promote Canadian art abroad. She helped facilitate a donation of artworks that became Canada’s first permanent museum collection of Sikh art, which opened at the MMFA in 2022. In 2010, Chadha and her husband, entrepreneur Baljit Singh Chadha, arranged the first-ever art exchange and exhibition between the National Gallery of Canada and the National Museum of India in New Delhi.
After raising her family, Roshi Chadha’s lifelong passion for art led her to Concordia, where she earned her BFA and MA in art history.
“Studying at Concordia changed my life in so many positive ways. It was one of the events in my life that made me better,” she said in a 2022 interview.
Through the Chadha Family Foundation, the couple established five bursaries for Indigenous undergraduate students at Concordia.
Also an entrepreneur, Roshi Chadha co-owns Olives en folie, a boutique specializing in fine olive oils from around the world.
She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award.
The Order of Montreal was created as a legacy of Montreal’s 375th anniversary to recognize the talents and achievements of exceptional Montrealers who have helped distinguish and shape the city.