“The world does not move around without people moving around.”
Martin Ndung’u, Host, Immigrant Nation Podcast
At seventeen, Roy Ratnavel was a political prisoner in Sri Lanka. At eighteen, he arrived in Canada alone with $50. Days later, his father was killed.
His father had helped him leave. Now Roy had to build a life without the man who had helped him reach safety.
Years later, he would become Vice Chairman of the investment company where he once sorted mail. But first came the task of surviving his loss, finding work and learning to live in an unfamiliar country.
Roy had endured imprisonment and torture as a Tamil teenager. Leaving Sri Lanka brought physical distance from those experiences. It did not erase them. He arrived in Canada carrying grief and anger alongside the immediate need for food, accommodation and an income.
There was little time to settle before he needed to earn a living.
He worked in a packaging factory. He cleaned corporate offices at night with friends. Shared accommodation helped him manage expenses. Night school became part of his effort to move forward.
These years belong in his story as much as the executive appointment. They explain the work behind his advancement and the circumstances in which he began.
At nineteen, Roy joined a Bay Street investment firm through its mailroom.
His responsibilities were modest. His ambitions extended further. While sorting letters, he began learning about the business and the people around him. He watched how experienced colleagues communicated, approached problems and handled responsibility.
He paid attention. He asked questions. He learned.
Other people recognised his potential and helped him develop it. Their guidance mattered, as did his willingness to accept it. Progress required him to reconsider some of his assumptions, listen to feedback and acknowledge how much he still needed to understand.
Roy’s early anger made this difficult. He later recognised its influence on how he viewed people and what he expected from them. Understanding his own behaviour became part of the work of building a career.
Over the years, his responsibilities grew. The young man who had entered through the mailroom eventually became Vice Chairman of CI Financial.
In 2020, Report on Business recognised him among Canada’s 50 Best Executives.
The achievement was substantial. So was the distance between the circumstances of his arrival and the responsibilities he eventually held. Yet a job title tells only part of his story.
Professional advancement brought further lessons about how he treated others. Roy has acknowledged shortcomings in his relationships with colleagues at his own level. Being effective with senior leaders and junior employees did not excuse difficulties with his peers.
He had to take responsibility for his conduct. Repairing those relationships required more than an apology. It required consistent changes in how he communicated and worked with people.
His willingness to acknowledge these mistakes gives his story depth. He learned through experience, including experiences in which he was responsible for getting something wrong.
The effects of imprisonment also deserved attention. Career success did not remove the need to understand his pain or seek support. His experiences, alongside his mother’s mental health challenges, informed his concern about the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Accepting help became part of rebuilding his life.
Beyond work, Roy’s priorities included his responsibilities as a husband and father, his commitment to fitness and his faith. Financial stability mattered alongside time, health and the quality of his relationships.
These parts of his life belong beside the professional achievements. Together, they give a fuller account of the person who arrived in Canada at eighteen.
In his memoir, Prisoner #1056, Roy tells the story behind those milestones. He writes about imprisonment, escape, loss and the years spent rebuilding his life. Readers encounter the teenager before the executive and the personal experiences behind his public success.
At Immigrant Nation, we share stories of people whose lives have been shaped by migration. Roy’s story deserves attention for its achievements, its losses and its honesty about the work of beginning again.
His father helped him reach safety. People in Canada helped him find opportunities. Roy spent years learning what to do with them.
Prisoner #1056 brings those experiences together in his own account.
Read Roy’s full story. Order Prisoner #1056 through https://www.royratnavel.com/prisoner1056
