Honourable Minister Sajjan was first elected as Member of Parliament for Vancouver South in 2015. Harjit was appointed Minister of Defence in late 2019. He immigrated to Canada from India with his family when he was five years old.
Harjit has served as a former detective with the Vancouver Police Department, a former Lieutenant Colonel with the British Columbia Regiment, and a long-time advocate for youth education and mentorship programs. For 11 years, he was a member of the Vancouver Police Department, based primarily in South Vancouver. He completed his career as a detective with the gang crime unit. As a member of the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught’s Own), he participated in four operational deployments—one to Bosnia and three to Afghanistan.
Upon graduating from high school, Harjit joined the Canadian army reserves in 1989 in pursuit of becoming a military pilot. Despite the racial hardships he faced in training, Harjit went on to become an officer in the British Columbia Regiment paving the way for his outstanding military career.