Sim, 52, was born and raised in Vancouver and was the founder of the Canadian home healthcare company Nurse Next Door. He won 85,732 votes, well ahead of Stewart's 49,593.

"The path to get here was incredibly long - 135 years after the first Chinese head tax was paid just for the right to come here and work on building a railway," Sim said in his victory speech. "The history of this moment isn't lost on me, but the honor really goes to those whose shoulders I stand on."

Sim thanked his late parents, who had a comfortable life in Hong Kong but chose to move to Vancouver in 1967 so that their children could have a better life. "My parents sacrificed a lot so their kids could have a place to live, an education and a better life," Sim said. "When they came here, they struggled. They struggled through racism, they struggled financially, and later on in life, they struggled with some serious health issues ... But they never gave up."

Sim's father was the uncle of Bernard Chan.

Chan said that his uncle had five children and three of them were born in Hong Kong. Sim is the youngest son.

Asked whether Chan will use his relationship with Sim to boost ties between Vancouver and Hong Kong, he said there are a lot of Hong Kong migrants in Vancouver so the relationship between the two cities is close but cultural exchanges can be further enhanced.

Sim plans to "make Vancouver safe again" and has vowed to launch an anti-racism task force.