Harpreet Sekha
July 17th, 2025
Harpreet Sekha has given Punjabi-Canadian literature a crucial lens through which to understand the complex, often painful, realities of immigration. In his novel Frosty Lanes (Rethink Books unpriced), he captures the hidden lives of long-haul truckers chasing status through Canada’s LMIA foreign worker system. Deftly weaving the stories of Gurseer in Vancouver and Karanvir in Toronto, Sekha reveals the toll of isolation, labour exploitation and disillusionment in a so-called paradise. Originally from Punjab and now based in Surrey, BC, Sekha immigrated to Canada in 1988. Though trained as a Mechanical Engineer and working as a CNC Machinist, he found his true vocation in storytelling. Frosty Lanes in particular is praised for being perhaps the first Canadian Punjabi novel to tackle the LMIA system directly. His work has appeared in Hindi, Punjabi and English literary journals, with academic institutions in both India and Canada adding his stories to course syllabi. 9789348092922
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