The South Asian Studies Institute is a unique research centre that studies both the South Asia region and the South Asian Canadian diaspora. In 2004 a group of intrepid community leaders met with the University of the Fraser Valley’s senior administration to discuss the need to include Indo Canadian studies as a part of the curriculum and as a specialized area of research. Their ideas were met with great enthusiasm, and the foundations for developing programming at UFV was set. That same group then volunteered to fundraise towards the establishment of a Research Chair on Canada–India Business and Economic Development. In two years, they successfully raised $1.25 million dollars, matched by the BC government. The university then designed the Centre for Indo Canadian Studies, which officially opened its doors in 2006. The Centre successfully developed and implemented three areas of study: The India–Canada Studies
