Montrealer Ossama Mansour is just 24. He is a social worker helping children on the autism spectrum and young people experiencing homelessness believe in themselves and build real confidence.
On the side, he co-founded a medical esthetics clinic with his sister. And come the end of July, he will head to Poland as Mister Canada taking part in the Mister Supranational pageant. Proof that one person really can do it all.
Mansour says, “The Lebanese culture is very into pageants, into those beauty competitions. So (my friends and family) were all very excited about it. They were thrilled. In Lebanon, they do a lot of these competitions.”
He continues, “For me, Canada represents one thing and one thing only, diversity. We offer an opportunity and a chance to everybody in the world to come here and be able to be themselves.”
When asked what he hopes to bring to the 16th Annual Mister Supranational pageant, Mansour says, “It’s a way to bring Canadian values to the international scale, show the world that Canada has a beautiful culture, a lot of diversity, of course, me being French-Canadian born, but still having a different ethnic background.”
Mansour adds, “I don’t come from a high noble class, I don’t come from a large background or a big family or a big name. I’m just some guy that thanks to the Mister Canada organization owned by JustBe Models, I got the opportunity to be on a larger scale to show myself to display what I am about and it just shows to them that it’s possible. Whatever they’re thinking, whatever they want to do, it is possible for them to do it, even if they don’t have the resources to do it or if they don’t have anybody believing them, not even one person. It’s enough for one person to find you and tell you can do it and that’s what happened to me and I’m blessed.”
Dhayliv Jesued, founder of the Mister Canada organization and JustBe Models, says, “I feel very proud to be that door for male models, especially people with different ethnicities that can participate in the Mister Canada organization. So it is just amazing to be able in this case have Ossama Mansour representing our country, Canada and it’s someone that was born here and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but his background is from Lebanon. So for me it’s a big huge achievement.”
Mansour was discovered in the most unsuspecting of places.
“They found me at the gym one day and he said that I have something that I gave off, something that could actually bring something to the space of modeling and I started doing my research, I looked into it and there’s a lot of philanthropy in there, so it’s something that resonated with me,” Mansour recalls.
“I think it’s important to show that pageants and those modeling competitions aren’t just about beauty, these people they all have a goal. Every single competitor and delegate of every country has a goal in mind of wanting to help people in his own way and I find that beautiful. I find that using your beauty and the platform you’re given for something good, that’s what it should be about. It shouldn’t just be about showing yourself off.”
The Mister Supranational competition, founded in 2016 is recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious competitions for men. It focuses on athleticism, charisma, and being an inspirational role model.
Mansour says with his selection, the global stage will see the diversity of Canada.
“It’s amazing to be able to show the world how much immigration has changed our country.”
