Locals Welcome: A Fresh Voice in Canadian Television
Imagine opening your door and inviting your neighbour in—not just for coffee, but for dinner. This is the spirit of “Locals Welcome”, a new CBC series that uses food as a way to understand the people who shape this country.
Premise and Purpose
On each episode of Locals Welcome, our host travels to a different Canadian community—big city neighbourhoods, small towns, and everything in between—to share a table with residents and hear their stories through the food they cook. These are not just recipes, but deeply personal traditions passed down through generations, adapted, and reshaped in a Canadian context. Every dish reflects lived experience: migration, family history, adaptation, and pride.
Why This Matters
Canada’s diversity and multi-culturalism is woven into everyday life. Across the country, people regularly share food, stories, and traditions, creating natural opportunities for cultural exchange. These interactions—whether in neighbourhoods, workplaces, or local communities—are a big part of what strengthens connection and a sense of belonging.
Food has always been one of the most approachable ways to encourage those interactions. A shared meal can reveal more about a person’s identity than a formal introduction ever could. Communities honour their roots—and invite others to understand them better.
About the Host
Suresh Doss is a well-known Canadian food journalist and broadcaster. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Toronto, he has spent over two decades cataloguing the stories of immigrant-run kitchens, family restaurants, street food vendors, and the communities built around them. His work consistently focuses on how food maps onto identity, memory, and belonging.
Suresh’s career has taken him from small suburban strip-mall eateries to remote regional food hubs, making him one of the country’s most trusted guides on how everyday Canadians cook and eat. His ability to listen, connect, and ask thoughtful questions shapes every episode, keeping the focus on the people behind the meals.
What Makes “Locals Welcome” Unique
The show avoids the competition format that dominates food television. Instead, it focuses on honest exchanges between people who may have never met before the cameras rolled. The meals vary wildly from episode to episode, but the intention stays the same: create space for stories that aren’t often heard on mainstream television.
Suresh cooks with community elders, home chefs, youth, and newcomers—each offering their own perspective on what makes a dish meaningful. One episode might take viewers inside a Sikh gurdwara kitchen, another into a Ukrainian family gathering on the Prairies, another into a small Eritrean restaurant in Montreal.
After each episode, the production partners with local organizations to host a neighbourhood potluck, giving residents a chance to meet each other in a relaxed and welcoming setting.
Bringing People Together Through Food
The belief at the centre of the show is straightforward: food belongs to everyone. A shared meal creates an opening for conversations that might not happen otherwise. This idea aligns with findings from federal assessments of multicultural initiatives, which note that meaningful interaction across communities is essential for social connection.
Locals Welcome aims to show those moments of connection—humour, vulnerability, misunderstandings, and breakthroughs—all through the lens of everyday home cooking.
Why It Resonates
Across Canada, immigrant-owned food businesses play a major role in local economies. Reports have noted that a significant portion of the food-and-beverage workforce is made up of newcomers, highlighting how cuisine often becomes both a livelihood and a cultural bridge.
By putting these stories at the forefront, the show emphasizes that diversity isn’t an abstract idea—it’s lived every day, in kitchens, restaurants, and community centres across the country.
Real Life in Canada
Locals Welcome is more than a food show. It’s a look at real Canadian life. Through the stories shared at each dinner table, the series reminds viewers that understanding often begins with something as simple as an invitation to eat together.
It’s a show built on genuine curiosity, everyday experiences, and the belief that connection can happen anywhere—especially over a good meal.
Check out Locals Welcome and Suresh Doss
- Watch full episodes of Locals Welcome on YouTube: YouTube – CBC playlist, CBC GEM: Locals Welcome
- Host bio and background: Suresh Doss – LinkedIn
LinkedIn - Social media insights (Instagram): Instagram – @suresh
Instagram - Feature article about the series and his work: “How Food Journalist Suresh Doss Is Mapping Canada’s Diasporic Palate”
