Our Story, Our People, Our Commitment

Who we are.
What we are
willing to do.

— i.

Our Vision

A world in which people of all faiths can live in freedom and equality.

— ii.

Our Mission

To provide economic, social, and moral assistance to victims of religious persecution — and facilitate their resettlement in Canada.

Origin · 2002

Born of a brother’s grief.
Sustained by a nation’s conscience.

International Christian Voice was founded in 2002 by Peter Bhatti — brother of Shahbaz Bhatti, who would become Pakistan’s first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs. Seven years before Shahbaz’s assassination, Peter was already organising from Canada to support the Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees, and Christians his brother was defending on the ground in Islamabad.

When Shahbaz was gunned down on an Islamabad street on March 2, 2011 — refusing the exile Canadian ministers had personally offered him — ICV’s mission became sacred. It was no longer only an advocacy organisation. It was the continuation of a martyrdom.

If I leave Pakistan, there will be no one left to stand for the persecuted. — Shahbaz Bhatti · to then-Minister Jason Kenney · 2011

Since receiving Sponsorship Agreement Holder status from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in 2016, ICV has brought more than 250 persecuted individuals to safety in Canada — Pakistani Christians, Iraqi Assyrians, Eritrean Orthodox refugees, Afghan families fleeing the Taliban. Every arrival is met at Toronto Pearson. Every sponsorship is a full year of care: housing, healthcare, schooling, language, employment, and belonging.

We are a volunteer-driven organisation. We do not operate offices in Pakistan. We do not take government grants. What we do is build the bridge — between persecuted people abroad and the Canadian churches, families, and cosponsors who open their homes. We handle the paperwork. They offer the welcome. Together, we answer the question Shahbaz asked with his life: who will stand for them?

Four commitments
we measure ourselves against.

These are not aspirations. They are the operational spine of everything we do — how we decide what to take on, how we allocate volunteer time, and how we report back to supporters, churches, and the Canada Revenue Agency.

Amplify the voice of the voiceless.

International witness at UN forums, Canadian parliament, and interfaith coalitions — forcing persecution of religious minorities onto the public record, where it cannot be ignored.

Facilitate private refugee sponsorship.

As an IRCC Sponsorship Agreement Holder, we are authorised to submit, shepherd, and fund applications end-to-end — from UNHCR processing through Canadian landing.

Resettle with dignity — not charity.

A full twelve months of housing, healthcare, language, and employment support for every sponsored family. We don’t just get them here. We help them stay.

Stand with victims of persecution, wherever they are.

Emergency relief in the wake of mob violence, false blasphemy accusations, forced conversion, property seizure — from Sargodha to Jaranwala to wherever faith is punished.

Leadership

The people behind
the promise.

Founder & Chairman

Peter Bhatti

Brother of Shahbaz Bhatti · Recipient of the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers (2022)

Peter Bhatti founded International Christian Voice in 2002 — nine years before his brother’s martyrdom — to extend from Canada what Shahbaz was building in Pakistan: institutional defence of religious minorities. In the two decades since, under his leadership, ICV has grown from a small volunteer circle in Brampton into a nationally recognised SAH sponsor that has brought more than 250 persecuted refugees to safety.

He speaks at interfaith conferences from Venice to Washington, works with Canadian parliamentarians across party lines, and personally meets arriving refugee families at Toronto Pearson. He is not a figurehead. He is the first call, the chair of every gala, and the signature on every IRCC application.

Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers Awarded June 5, 2022 · Governor General of Canada

Noel Fernandis

Director, Refugee Sponsorship

Leads ICV’s day-to-day IRCC sponsorship operations — reviewing applications, co-ordinating with cosponsor churches, and personally welcoming families at the airport.

Cajie & Maria DeSouza

Resettlement Volunteers

Two decades of furnishing homes, stocking pantries, and transforming basement apartments into welcoming spaces for arriving families before they ever land in Canada.

Shaheen Qamar

Community Liaison

Former colleague of Shahbaz Bhatti at the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA). Works directly with Pakistani Christian diaspora communities across the GTA.

Gul Sher Murad

Refugee Advocate

Shahbaz Bhatti’s driver on the day of the 2011 assassination. Sponsored by ICV to Canada in 2024 after eleven years in exile. Now speaks at galas and advocates for others.

Dr. Colin Saldanha

Board Advisor

Biblical and theological voice at annual memorial events, drawing the line between Shahbaz Bhatti’s sacrifice and the Christian tradition of witness through martyrdom.

Governing Body

Board of Directors

A volunteer board of Canadian community leaders, faith representatives, and human rights advocates providing governance oversight, legal counsel, and financial stewardship.

Since 2002

A chronology
of standing up.

A selective record — the moments that defined ICV. The full list of 250+ families welcomed since 2017 deserves a monument of its own.

2002

International Christian Voice is founded

Peter Bhatti establishes ICV in Brampton, Ontario, to support his brother Shahbaz’s fight for minority rights in Pakistan — from the safety of Canada.

2011

The martyrdom of Shahbaz Bhatti

On March 2, Shahbaz Bhatti is assassinated by Taliban gunmen in Islamabad. Jason Kenney flies to Pakistan despite security warnings to attend the funeral. ICV’s mission becomes a legacy.

2013

Gul Sher Murad flees Pakistan

Shahbaz Bhatti’s driver — a direct witness to the assassination — escapes to Thailand under extremist threats. He would wait eleven years for ICV to bring him home.

2016

IRCC Sponsorship Agreement Holder status

ICV receives federal authorization to sponsor refugees directly to Canada — unlocking the programmatic engine that would deliver 250+ lives to safety in the years that followed.

2022

The Sovereign’s Medal

Peter Bhatti receives Canada’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, on behalf of the Governor General, at a ceremony at the Aga Khan Museum.

2023

Jaranwala relief mission

In the wake of mob violence that burned Christian homes and churches, Peter Bhatti personally delivers financial aid to forty displaced families on the ground in Punjab.

2024

Gul Sher comes home

After eleven years in exile and a successful ICV-led fundraiser, Shahbaz Bhatti’s driver lands in Toronto. His wife and five children follow weeks later. Full family reunion.

2025

Eleven families welcomed in a single year

An operational record. Pakistanis, Iraqis, Eritreans, Afghans — each family met at Pearson, housed, resourced, and walked through their first Canadian year.

2026

Blood & Water Gala & Book Launch

ICV hosts the Shahbaz Bhatti Memorial Gala at the Toronto Grand Convention Centre — Jason Kenney keynoting, the graphic novel Blood & Water launching, the Tariq & Javed campaign opened.

We do not do this
alone.

Nine institutions stand behind the work — from the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto’s Office for Refugees, to the Religious Liberty Partnership’s global coalition, to the local churches in Brampton, Winnipeg, and Toronto who have opened their homes to the arriving. Each partnership was earned over years.

— 01

Religious Freedom Institute

Committed to achieving broad acceptance of religious liberty as a fundamental human right — a cornerstone of individual and social flourishing.

Visit — 02

Institute for Global Engagement

Promotes societal flourishing by equipping citizens to engage, respect, and protect one another regardless of faith or none.

Visit — 03

The Voice of the Martyrs Canada

A missionary organisation serving persecuted Christians in the world’s most difficult and dangerous places. Co-publishers of the 2026 graphic novel Blood & Water.

Visit — 04

Archdiocese of Toronto · ORAT

The Office for Refugees of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto — working with cosponsors and parish organisations to sponsor refugees for resettlement to Canada.

Visit — 05

The Religious Liberty Partnership

A collaborative effort of Christian organisations from every continent focused on religious liberty for all people, of all faiths.

Visit — 06

Christ Church Brampton

Local faith community in ICV’s home city that has opened homes, cosponsored families, and welcomed arriving refugees into its congregation.

Visit — 07

The City Church · Winnipeg

International and intercultural congregation partnering with ICV to sponsor and resettle refugee families in Manitoba.

Visit — 08

Weston Road Church

Toronto congregation committed to being within reach of those far from God — and to ICV’s work of sponsoring the persecuted.

Visit — 09

Volunteer Canada

National body advancing volunteerism to grow connection, community, and belonging — of which ICV’s volunteer-driven model is a grassroots expression.

Visit

Canadian Registered Charity

Tax receipts issued for all donations of $20 or more, in compliance with Canada Revenue Agency.

IRCC Sponsorship Agreement Holder

Federally authorised by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to sponsor refugees directly since 2016.

Sovereign’s Medal · 2022

Peter Bhatti honoured by the Governor General of Canada for sustained volunteer leadership in defending persecuted minorities.

You’ve read our story

Now stand with us
in writing the next chapter.

Two decades of work. Two hundred and fifty refugees. Nine institutional partners. One unchanged question: who will stand for them? Your name belongs in the answer.

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