The 25 Afghan Women Judges and their Families in Ontario

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Most of the families arrived in Ontario between May 25, 2022 and December 31, 2022.   Three families arrived in early 2023. The 25th Afghan family arrived in May, 2024.  Five of the families live in Mississauga and one family lives in each of Kitchener, Guelph, Hamilton, Oshawa, Ajax, and Sudbury. Two families live in Ottawa.  The remaining 12 families live in Toronto.

Sixteen of the judges are accompanied by their husbands and children while three are single parents. Two of the judges are accompanied by adult family members (parents or siblings). There are about 45 adults.  Nineteen of the Afghan women judges have about 47 children, 6 of whom were born in Canada.  Most of the children are under 14 years of age with five older children finishing high school or entering post-secondary education.   On arrival, the age range of most of the Afghan women judges was 30 to 42.

The Afghan women judges are amongst the 5% of females in Afghanistan who had attained post-secondary education by 2021.  They all have an undergraduate degree in Sharia law or Islamic law or Law and Politics.  Two of them have a Masters degree.  Most of them attended  the 2 year judicial training program and they presided as judges in Afghanistan in a range of 4 to 12 years.    

All of the husbands have undergraduate degrees and several have Masters degrees.  In Afghanistan, they had careers including judge, prosecutor or defence lawyer, engineer, and electrician. 

On arrival, few of the newcomers had sufficient English language proficiency to work or attend post-secondary educational programs.  Most of them accessed the literacy program [LINC] available through the federal government. While committed to improving their English skills as quickly as possible, they rose to meet the many challenges of the new environment including access to child care.   

They were all welcomed to Canada as Government Assisted Refugees and as a result, they became Permanent Residents on arrival. They were all entitled to financial support from the federal government for 12 months along with settlement services to assist in obtaining access to housing, education for the children and health care.  

With the exception of the family that arrived in May, 2024, all of the Afghan women judges and their families have exhausted the financial support provided by the federal government. They are grappling with decisions about trying to obtain employment at minimum wage jobs or in the gig economy, about deciding whether the Afghan women judges will prioritize language and other educational options while the husbands find employment, and about defaulting to OSAP or Ontario Works because no other options are available.  Most of them are challenged by housing, including crowded conditions and high rent.  Some are reliant on food banks.

All of the Afghan women judges express anxiety for the family members they were forced to leave behind as the situation in Afghanistan for girls and women continues to deteriorate.

As judges, these Afghan women made an enormous contribution to the re-establishment of civil society and to the introduction of the rule of law in some areas of Afghanistan.  As a result, their lives and the lives of their families were endangered. Canada has provided a welcome refuge but they face many challenges.

Most of these well-educated legal trail blazers are committed to achieving English language proficiency that will permit them to embark on further training and education that will increase the likelihood of securing satisfying and fulfilling employment.  They need tuition and related expenses to access post-secondary education in colleges and universities  so that they can pursue a legal career or related professional career such as a paralegal or law clerk, or investigate alternate careers.  They need financial assistance that will allow them to focus on education and training.  They need mentoring opportunities such as shadowing or paid internships to help them respond to the challenge of having “Canadian experience” that is a barrier to obtaining employment consistent with their education and skills.

They have accomplished a great deal in the almost 3 years since they began to arrive.  The next 3 years will be critical to building upon their successes.  With your help, they will be able to provide for their families, demonstrate their gratitude for the haven from persecution afforded by Canada, and contribute to Canadian civil society.