The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa (ADO) has a long history of helping refugees from around the world and all faiths come to Canada. As a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) under the Canadian government’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees program, the Refugee Ministry Office partners with constituent groups who want to sponsor refugees. Those constituent groups include Anglican parishes and groups of other faith-based or community-based groups and can include people seeking to sponsor their family members.

As we mark World Refugee Day in 2026, Perspective shares one family’s story.

Murtaza Ishraq was a well-known television broadcaster and commentator in Afghanistan. He was also a key spokesperson for a stability and convergence team in the 2019 presidential election. His wife, Masuma, was a law professor and writer on women’s rights.

So, when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August of 2021, their lives changed overnight. Masuma had to leave the university and stay home, and they were immediately threatened. An American non-governmental organization (NGO) helped them escape to Pakistan.

That got them out of immediate danger, but their situation in Pakistan was not good. Overwhelmed with people coming across the border from Afghanistan, the Pakistani government was not issuing work permits or documents that would allow the refugees to stay in the country. That meant that the couple had to pay high-priced rent for a place to stay in Islamabad out of the money they brought with them with no way to earn money. The water was bad, and their baby couldn’t drink it, so they eventually moved to a smaller city where the rent was less expensive, but they were still stuck in a bad situation with nowhere to go and no way to make a living.

Fortunately, that’s where Patricia Wilson and the non-profit Ottawa Centre Refugee Action (OCRA), came in. OCRA was founded in 2015 to help bring Syrian refugees to Canada and had begun to focus on Afghan people. “I was reaching out to sponsorship agreement holders in Ontario, particularly in Ottawa in 2021 and 2022,” Wilson said. “We had been contacted by people trying to bring various Afghans out. Most of them had fled to Pakistan, and we were looking for help at the sponsorship agreement, holder level.

“I remember sitting here in the summer of 2022. I didn’t think anyone would get back to us,” Wilson said. And then she got a call from the Refugee Ministry Office, letting her know that the Diocese had accepted OCRA as a constituent group, allowing them to sponsor refugees.

Since then, ORCA has bought eight groups — 37 people, including sponsoring Murtaza and Masuma and their son, who arrived in 2023.

It’s not easy starting over in a new country, but Masuma told Perspective that  she is happy to be safe in Canada and to be able to work. Murtaza is working as an Uber Eats driver in afternoons and evenings, so that he can take an English course during the day. Masuma was working as an early childhood educator until their second child was born nine months ago. Later, she hopes to return to university and study Canadian law.

After sharing their story with Perspective, Masuma wrote to says she would “like to sincerely thank the Anglican Church for helping our family reach Canada and find a safe place to live. We will certainly never forget their kindness and support.”

Special thanks to the Refugee Ministry Office’s devoted case managers Reem Abu-Afieh and Ishita Ghose for all of the work they do to make stories like this happen.

The post World Refugee Day: One family’s journey to Canada appeared first on Perspective.