How the TTC’s first turban-wearing bus driver broke barriers

Gobinder Singh Randhawa didn’t take no for an answer when he was denied a job with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) due to his turban and uncut beard in 1978.

Instead, he became the catalyst for change.

Battling discrimination and adversity, Randhawa pushed to give the TTC’s uniform policy a first-of-its-kind update.

Randhawa immigrated to Canada from India in 1972. Adjusting to a new life in Scarborough, Ontario, meant taking up various labour jobs across the city.

Randhawa says he had a growing passion to work for the TTC as the years passed. By 1978, he was finally called in for an interview, but his turban and uncut beard became his biggest roadblock.

Randhawa says the then supervisor put the TTC uniform hat on the table, asking him, “How would that fit on your head?”

At the time, the TTC’s uniform policy for bus drivers mandated the traditional hat and required them to be clean shaved. Conflicting with his faith as a Sikh, Randhawa persisted in the TTC to change the discriminatory policy.

After four months of discussions with the commission and the union, on June 22, 1978, Gobinder Singh Randhawa became the TTC’s first bus driver to wear a turban.

Discrimination from TTC riders common, Randhawa says

Sparking the policy change was just the beginning for Randhawa. He says he often experienced racism, bigotry from riders, and ignorance from some colleagues. Randhawa was breaking barriers before many other publicly funded services would.

He was driving for the TTC six years before the Toronto Police Service (then known as the Metropolitan Toronto Police) would allow officers to wear a turban on the job and over a decade before the RCMP would follow suit. All the more reason that he says he felt the weight of an entire community on his shoulders.

Randhawa says he continuously felt that his performance had to be better than those around him.

Proudly driving the bus from Finch station to Neilson Road daily, Randhawa says his regular riders, including immigrants from various countries, became like family.

A TTC subway is seen at Toronto’s Union Station. CITYNEWS / File / Nick Westoll

While their destinations were different, he says their journeys felt the same. On January 1, 2009, Randhawa retired after 31 years of service. The emotion-filled final day on the job included a special card signed by many of his regular passengers.

Randhawa now spends his retirement volunteering his time at the Gursikh Sabha Canada Gurudwara, which he helped found in 1991 in Scarborough.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led fundraisers at the Gurudwara, where they raised over $100,000 for five hospitals across the GTA. “The Gurudwara” also acted as a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

Randhawa says he hopes that sharing his story can continue the fight to create more inclusive workplaces, especially as many impacted by Bill 21 in Quebec have lost their dream jobs.

Calling on all levels of government to look at policy the way the TTC did 44 years ago, he says he hopes future generations can continue to work anywhere, regardless of their faith.