When Shushma Datt was 10 years old, she made a mistake during a school play.
She was devastated. But when the broadcast aired a week later, the mistake had disappeared.
“I thought to myself, what a beautiful world,” she recalls. “Make mistakes and you can erase them. I want to be a part of that.”
That childhood moment sparked a career that would span more than six decades and transform multicultural broadcasting in Canada. As a broadcaster, entrepreneur, mentor, and community advocate, Shushma has dedicated her life to ensuring immigrant communities see themselves reflected in the media and providing space for aspiring broadcasters from diverse backgrounds have a place to begin.
Building opportunity where none existed
Shushma’s journey to broadcasting was anything but conventional.
Born in Kenya, she dreamed of working in radio despite believing she wasn’t an exceptional student. A chance visit to the BBC in London eventually led to a six-month contract as a typist. Surrounded by some of the BBC’s most respected broadcasters, she immersed herself in every aspect of production.
“I wanted to learn everything,” she says. “Editing fascinated me.”
Before long, she had become a broadcaster herself, launching the BBC Hindi Service’s first music program and interviewing some of the biggest names in entertainment, including George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Stevie Winwood, and other iconic musicians.
But when she immigrated to Canada in the 1970s, she discovered something was missing.
While Vancouver’s South Asian population was growing rapidly, media serving those communities remained limited to short weekly broadcasts.
“I wanted more for the community,” she says.
That vision would ultimately change multicultural broadcasting in British Columbia.
Creating a voice for a growing community
When Shushma arrived in Canada, she quickly recognized a gap in the media landscape. As Vancouver’s South Asian population grew, access to media that reflected the community remained limited. Determined to provide programming that reflected the needs of immigrant families, in 1987 Shushma founded Rim Jhim, one of Canada’s first 24-hour South Asian radio stations.
Building a station from the ground up required creativity, persistence, and an unwavering belief that the community deserved better. Traditional broadcasting required significant investment, and Shushma was told that simply securing a frequency could cost $500,000. Unable to bear the cost on her own, she found a creative solution by leasing a subcarrier frequency from a new FM station. By embracing emerging technologies, Shushma slowly built an audience that grew from just a handful of listeners to tens of thousands.
With Rim Jhim’s programming, Shushma added something the South Asian community desperately needed – reliable news from India. She reached out to former BBC colleagues in Delhi to produce a daily news bulletin. Despite telephone bills that could reach upwards of $3,000 per month, she saw the service as essential. It gave listeners access to trusted information about events in their country of origin at a time when those connections were difficult to maintain.
Shushma also wanted to change how South Asian communities were represented in the media. Rather than focusing on negative stories, she created a platform to celebrate the achievements and contribution of community members.
“I wanted a place where everybody could talk about how good the community’s work is,” she says. “Our community has to have a voice of its own.”
Through her commitment to providing factual, unbiased journalism, Shusha earned the trust and respect of her audience. During challenging periods of political tension, she faced threats but remained unwavering in her conviction that journalism’s role is to inform and not divide. The community responded by standing beside her and offering their protection, a reflection of the deep connections she had cultivated over the decades. By giving the community a voice, Shushma became an integral part of the community she served.
Opening doors for future broadcasters
While Shushma’s influence on broadcasting is significant, many say her greatest legacy is the people she has mentored.
Recognizing that talented graduates from broadcasting programs often struggled to break into mainstream media, she intentionally created opportunities for emerging journalists and broadcasters.
Over nearly two decades, she hired 18 BCIT broadcasting graduates, giving them meaningful on-air experience rather than entry-level administrative tasks. Many have since built successful careers with major broadcasters, including CTV, The Beat, Z95.3, and Hockey Night in Canada.
“I gave them a solid foundation and let them fly,” she says.
For Shushma, mentorship has always been about more than teaching technical skills. She encouraged young broadcasters to dream big, remain curious, and uphold the highest standards of journalism.
“When you become a broadcaster, you have to be unbiased,” she says. “You are there to give information, not your opinion.”
A lasting impact
Throughout her career, Sushma has done far more than build radio stations and television programs. She has built trust, opportunity, and a stronger sense of community for generations of British Columbians.
Her commitment to service extends well beyond broadcasting. For decades, she has used her platforms to support charitable organizations and community causes, helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for organizations including BC Children’s Hospital, the United Way, and Vancity Foundation. In 1992 alone, a four-hour television fundraiser she helped organize raised $120,000 for BC Children’s Hospital, demonstrating the remarkable ability of multicultural media to unite communities around a common cause.
Equally important is the legacy she has created through mentorship. By opening the doors of her newsroom to aspiring broadcasters, many from underrepresented backgrounds, she gave them the confidence, experience, and opportunity to build successful careers in Canadian media. Many have gone on to become familiar voices and faces on major radio and television networks, carrying forward the values of integrity, curiosity, and authentic storytelling that Shushma championed throughout her own career.
Even today, her passion for storytelling shows no signs of slowing. She continues to embrace new technology, launch new projects, and seek out stories that celebrate the people making a difference in their communities.
Shushma’s influence can be heard far beyond the broadcasts she produced. It lives on in the journalists she mentored, the communities she empowered, and the countless listeners who found connection, comfort, and belonging through the voices she brought to the airwaves. Few people have done more to shape multicultural broadcasting in British Columbia, or to ensure that every community has the opportunity to tell its own story.
In recognition of her extraordinary contributions to broadcasting, journalism, community leadership, and mentorship, BCIT will present Shushma Datt with the Institute’s highest honour, an Honorary Doctorate of Technology, at the 2026 Vision Awards in October. She will be formally conferred the honorary degree during BCIT’s 2027 Convocation ceremonies.