Ratna Omidvar (born November 5, 1949) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician and academic, who was named to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

to represent

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

on March 18, 2016."Trudeau to appoint seven new senators"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', March 18, 2016. She retired from the Senate on November 5, 2024 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Early life and academic career

Originally from

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

,. Retrieved 2020-10-04. she was educated at the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. Although she was born in Amritsar, the

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

holy city, she is not a Sikh. She met her Iranian husband while studying in Germany and went to live with him in Iran in 1975. In 1981 they fled the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

and immigrated to Canada. She became executive director of the Maytree Foundation, a charitable organization to combat

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

in Canada, before departing in 2014 to found the Global Diversity Exchange at the Ted Rogers School of Management,

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

where she was a distinguished visiting professor. Omidvar is the current co-chair of the Global Future Council on Migration hosted by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. She is also a director at the Environics Institute, and Samara Canada. She is the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s chair emerita and was formerly the chair of Lifeline Syria. Omidvar is co-author of ''Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada'' (2015), an Open Book Toronto best book of 2015 and one of the Toronto Star's top five good reads from Word on the Street. She is also a contributor to ''The Harper Factor'' (2016) and co-editor of ''Five Good Ideas: Practical Strategies for Non-Profit Success'' (2011).

Senate career

Omidvar was named to the

by Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

to represent Ontario on March 18, 2016, joining the

Independent Senators Group The Independent Senators Group (ISG; ) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10, 2016, the Independent Senators Group is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the modernization of the Upper House of Canada's Parli ...

. In 2016, Omidvar's exchange with psychologist

Jordan Peterson Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator. He received widespread attention in the late 2010s for his views on cultural and political issues. Often described as Conservatism, conservativ ...

during a Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs hearing on Bill C-16 received significant attention, where Peterson defended his position against the bill's provisions requiring the use of pronouns for persons based on their identified gender if different from their biological sex. In October 2018, Omidvar introduced a motion to strip

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

of her honorary Canadian citizenship over her government's actions in the

Rohingya conflict The Rohingya conflict is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing conflict in the northern part of Rakhine State, Myanmar (formerly known as Arakan, Burma), characterised by Sectarianism, sectarian violence between the Rohingya people, Ro ...

. Passed unanimously, the measure stripped Suu Kyi of the honour, since the House of Commons had passed a similar measure earlier in the month. Ratna Omidvar expressed her objections to Bill S-219 "An Act to deter Iran-sponsored terrorism, incitement to hatred, and human rights violations", and voted negatively on the bill which was eventually declined by the Senate of Canada in May 2018. Omidvar notably interacted with Laird Hunter on October 22, 2018, in a Senate Committee dealing with charities and non-profits.

Honours

Omidvar was appointed to the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

in 2005 and became a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2011,"Ratna Omidvar, Toronto expert on diversity, to sit as independent senator"

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, March 18, 2016. with both honours recognizing her advocacy work on behalf of immigrants and devotion to reducing inequality in Canada. She also received an honorary doctorate in laws

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

in 2012. In 2014, Omidvar received the Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of German-Canadian relations. Omidvar has also been recognized by Canada's national newspaper, ''

'', by being named as its Nation Builder of the Decade for Citizenship in 2010. In 2016,

CivicAction The Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (formerly the Toronto City Summit Alliance), commonly known as CivicAction, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Toronto that attempts to boost civic engagement and address urban challenges ...

awarded her with their Lifetime Achievement Award for Civic Leadership in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

. In 2018, Omidvar was one of the recipients of the 2018 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by

Canadian Immigrant Magazine ''Canadian Immigrant'' is a free monthly magazine and daily website for recent arrivals to Canada. The properties are owned by Torstar, and are currently published by Metroland Media Group, with print distribution throughout British Columbia, Albe ...

References

External links

*
Ratna Omidvar Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omidvar, Ratna 1949 births Canadian senators from Ontario Women members of the Senate of Canada Independent Canadian senators Indian emigrants to Canada Living people Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Politicians from Amritsar Academic staff of Toronto Metropolitan University Delhi University alumni Independent Senators Group Women in Ontario politics 21st-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada