Crystal Janvier Romaniuk is crowned Ms. Multicultural Canada 2026

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Crystal Janvier Romaniuk is taking Indigenous representation, multiculturalism and economic empowerment to a new national stage after being crowned Ms. Multicultural Canada 2026.

Janvier Romaniuk says she is the first Indigenous woman to hold the title of Ms. Multicultural Canada, describing the achievement as both an honour and a responsibility.

For the Alberta entrepreneur, the title represents much more than traditional pageantry. It provides a platform to celebrate her Indigenous identity while speaking about financial literacy, entrepreneurship, economic reconciliation and the importance of bringing Canada’s diverse communities together.

“I feel like the right doors open at the right time,” she said.

The significance of the title comes within a much larger Canadian history. Canada adopted multiculturalism as an official federal policy in 1971, becoming the first country in the world to formally adopt such a policy. Multiculturalism was recognized through Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 and became enshrined in legislation through the Canadian Multiculturalism Act in 1988.

For Janvier Romaniuk, those principles are especially relevant today. “I know my values align quite well with Multicultural Canada,” she said. “They’re all about cultural inclusion and cultures working together.”

She believes the message of unity is important during a period of political and economic uncertainty. “It’s such a good time to stand for an organization that is really looking at uniting as opposed to looking at our differences.”

Multicultural Productions is an Alberta based organization that uses pageantry, cultural events and community initiatives to celebrate diversity, build confidence and bring cultures together. For Janvier Romaniuk, the organization offered an opportunity to combine cultural representation with advocacy.

“What’s really attracting me to their organization is that I’m able to celebrate my Indigenous identity while using pageantry as a platform for something bigger than myself,” she said.

Holding the Ms. Multicultural Canada title also creates a responsibility to make Indigenous representation visible in spaces where it has not always been prominent. “It’s so important to have Indigenous people in these spaces,” she said. “To be the first person with this title is a big responsibility.”

Janvier Romaniuk plans to use her platform to connect with communities beyond her own, including African and Ukrainian communities, while highlighting marginalized communities that have historically faced barriers to representation. “I anticipate going to other events to represent not only Indigenous people, but what it looks like to have more of a united society.”

Representation, she says, can help people see possibilities for themselves. “I think it’s really important to have someone that looks like me, that’s brown, that’s Indigenous,  that they can kind of relate to.”

She also recognizes that she does not necessarily fit the traditional image some people may associate with a beauty queen. “I don’t look like the typical, perhaps blonde hair, blue eyed beauty queen that people have seen in the past.”

For Janvier Romaniuk, that difference is part of the significance of the title.

Long before entering the pageant world, Janvier Romaniuk was building a career around entrepreneurship and financial empowerment. She is CEO of Sundance Enterprises and founder of Sundance Wealth Management. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Alberta, as well as an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business.

Her focus on financial literacy is now becoming part of her multicultural advocacy, she says, adding that financial empowerment involves more than understanding budgets and balance sheets. She speaks about poverty mindsets, imposter syndrome and what she describes as inherited financial trauma, experiences that can influence how people view money, entrepreneurship and their own potential. “I’ve had to actively and still actively work to overcome that.”

She also believes there is a deeper conversation that often gets overlooked. “I don’t know if we talk enough about the spiritual aspect of money or inherited financial trauma, and what that looks like psychologically and why that’s holding us back.”

For Janvier Romaniuk, understanding people’s relationship with money is important because financial barriers are not always purely financial. Family experiences, beliefs and histories can shape confidence and willingness to pursue opportunities. “I think it’s really critical to carry that message forward, to address and overcome the inherited poverty mindsets and trauma that we’ve inherited through our own life experience as well as our relatives’.”

She sees economic reconciliation and multiculturalism as areas that can intersect through greater access to financial knowledge, entrepreneurship and economic participation.

Her new title has already opened another door. Following her crowning as Ms. Multicultural Canada 2026, Janvier Romaniuk was invited by Bathala International to participate in the Mrs. Petite Global national pageant through its pageant division, Canada National Pageant Championships.

The opportunity gives her another national platform to bring her Indigenous identity and advocacy for financial empowerment and economic reconciliation to a wider audience, with the potential to advance to an international competition.

For Janvier Romaniuk, pageantry is ultimately a vehicle for purpose. “It’s not something that I just, you know, wear a pretty crown and do events,” she said. She sees the title as an opportunity to create relationships, represent communities and carry important messages into spaces where they may not always be heard.

“I’m able to celebrate my Indigenous identity while using pageantry as a platform for something bigger than myself,” she says.

For Janvier Romaniuk, becoming the first Indigenous woman to hold the Ms. Multicultural Canada title is more than a milestone. It is a starting point, and she intends to use the title to build bridges between cultures, communities and opportunities.