Ken Sim

Born in Vancouver in 1970, Ken Sim worked as an accountant and investment banker before co-founding two successful businesses: Nurse Next Door and Rosemary Rocksalt bagels. Sim made an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Vancouver in 2018, losing to Kennedy Stewart by 957 votes. In 2022, he and his A Better City (ABC) Party won a majority government with a platform that stressed law and order and public safety. Sim is the first Chinese-Canadian to be elected mayor of Vancouver.

Sim’s parents, Francis and Theresa (nee Kim), moved with their three children from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 1967. Francis was an entrepreneur and Theresa worked as a typist for BC Packers in Steveston. Another daughter was born in Vancouver, followed by a son, Ken.

For his first career, Ken Sim became a certified accountant and worked at the Vancouver office of KPMG International. He then became an investment banker with CIBC World Markets in Vancouver, Toronto and London, England, before returning to Vancouver.

In 2001, when Sim’s wife, Teena, was pregnant with the first of their four children, her doctor ordered bedrest at home. She and Sim were frustrated when trying to arrange necessary help. The experience led them to partner with John DeHart to create Nurse Next Door. The business helps people arrange licensed, skilled nurses and caregivers to provide seniors with health care and companionship. Nurse Next Door has been franchised in more than 180 cities in three countries. In 2019, Sim, Teena and their partners entered into a royalty and trademark partnership with Diversified Royalty Corp. for $52 million.