Miss Universe Canada 2020 — Global Beauties

The Miss Universe Canada 2020 pageant was held on October 24th, at the Riviera Events Center, in Toronto, without an audience. Alyssa Boston of Ontario crowned Nova Stevens of British Columbia as the new Miss Universe Canada and her country´s representative in Miss Universe 2020, to take place in the first months of 2021.

The first runner-up, Tamara Jemuovic of Ontario, will represent Canada in Miss International 2021. The second runner-up was Jaime VandenBerg of Alberta, Svetlana Mamaeva, from Ontario. was the 3rd runner-up, while the 4th runner-up was Alberta´s Sam Fraughton . 55 women competed for the title.

The pageant will be streamed at www.missuniversecanada.ca, on October 28th.

The 27-year-old winner is an activist and the co-organizer behind Vancouver’s Freedom marches, which saw thousands stand up against anti-Black racism and support the Black Lives Matter Movement this summer.

“I have always been vocal about things I believe. I have always used my voice because I felt like, again it’s a privilege to have a voice because not everybody gets the ability to speak,” she told Daily Hive in a previous interview.

After her family fled a brutal civil war in South Sudan, Nova was sent alone to Canada at age 6 to be able to have a better life. Leaving behind her mother in a UN camp in South Sudan and her father and siblings in Ethiopia, Nova uses her new chance at life in Canada as a driving factor to one day reunite her family.

Being separated from her family and growing up without her parents in Canada, Nova is acutely aware of the importance of fostering healthy development of children and youth from all walks of life. While continuing to work towards reuniting her family, she is continuously looking for opportunities to serve young Canadians as she is so grateful for the opportunities that being Canadian has given her.

Asked to describe herself, Nova emphasized resiliency and the power of faith in being able to change your circumstances.