The annual fundraising gala honouring Shahbaz Bhatti’s martyrdom. Our signature event since 2016.
Jump to Memorial Dinner → — 02 · National DayAnnual commemoration of Pakistan’s National Minorities Day — the day Shahbaz Bhatti himself designated as Federal Minister.
Jump to Minority Day → — 03 · CommunityChristmas dinners, summer picnics, and community gatherings — where our sponsored families meet the families who sponsored them.
Jump to Social Activities →Every year, on or near the anniversary of his assassination, ICV hosts the Martyr Shahbaz Bhatti Memorial Fundraiser Dinner. It is our signature gathering — the evening when we remember his sacrifice, honour his legacy, and raise the funds to sponsor the next persecuted family to Canada.
Since 2016, ICV has hosted an annual commemoration of the life of Shahbaz Bhatti to re-energise our solemn commitment to helping the voiceless. It is ICV’s signature event — the moment the organisation raises the bulk of the annual budget for refugee sponsorship.
Speakers and guests from varying walks of life pay their tribute: Christian leaders from across the denominational spectrum, political representatives from federal, provincial, and municipal levels, community members, and sponsored refugee families themselves sharing what a year in Canada has done for their lives.
Keynote address — past speakers have included Hon. Jason Kenney (former Premier), Hon. Graham McGregor (Minister of Citizenship & Multiculturalism), Hon. Garnett Genuis, and Mayor Patrick Brown.
Refugee testimony — a sponsored refugee family shares their journey, often reducing half the room to tears. In 2025, it was Gul Sher Murad — Shahbaz Bhatti’s own driver — finally reunited with his family in Canada.
Multi-faith performances & reflections — Christian choirs, Pakistani Canadian artists, Sikh and Hindu faith leaders speaking to the universality of Bhatti’s sacrifice.
The ask — a direct, specific fundraising appeal tied to a named sponsorship case: “This is who your donation brings to Canada next year.”
The 2026 Memorial Gala featured keynote by Hon. Jason Kenney and the launch of Blood & Water — the graphic novel telling Shahbaz Bhatti’s story.
ICV’s 4th annual dinner held at Chateau Le Jardin on the 9th anniversary of Bhatti’s martyrdom. Attendees included dignitaries from federal, provincial, and municipal governments, as well as Canadian human rights activists. Dr. Colin Saldanha served as Master of Ceremonies.
ICV formally announces Gul Sher Murad and his family of seven as the 2021 sponsorship beneficiary. Gul Sher — Shahbaz Bhatti’s driver on the day of the assassination — had lived in exile in Thailand for a decade, separated from his wife and five children.
Following pandemic delays, the 2020 decision to sponsor Gul Sher Murad’s family is reaffirmed. The 2022 dinner raises funds to continue supporting his sponsorship, his wife, and five minor children — still in exile in Thailand.
Despite an unprecedented snowstorm that night, 275 of the expected 320 guests braved the weather to attend. Christian leaders across the denominational spectrum, political representatives, and community supporters filled Chateau Le Jardin to raise funds for the next Thai refugee family.
The largest attended dinner to date, with representation from all levels of government, diverse faith communities, and over twenty sponsored refugee families present as honoured guests.
Hon. Graham McGregor (Minister of Citizenship & Multiculturalism), Hon. Ruby Sahota, Hon. Garnett Genuis, MPP Silvia Gualtieri pay tribute. Gul Sher Murad — the driver who survived Shahbaz’s assassination — shares his testimony as a sponsored refugee.
Hon. Jason Kenney delivers keynote. Mayor Patrick Brown, MP Garnett Genuis, MPP Amarjot Sandhu, and faith leaders attend. Graphic novel on Shahbaz Bhatti’s life launches. $70,000 Tariq & Javed campaign opens.
On August 11th, 1947, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah told the Constitutional Assembly: “You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” Shahbaz Bhatti, as Pakistan’s first Federal Minister for Minorities, designated August 11th as National Minorities Day. Every year, ICV commemorates it in Canada.
Pakistan was founded on August 14, 1947. Just three days earlier, on August 11, 1947, Jinnah delivered a founding address promising religious equality for all Pakistani citizens — a promise that has been repeatedly broken in the eight decades since. Minorities Day exists to hold the country’s leadership to that original promise.
It was Shahbaz Bhatti himself, as the first and only Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs, who officially designated August 11th as Pakistan’s National Minorities Day. Remembering the day is, in itself, a way of remembering him.
Virtual & hybrid gatherings — linking participants in Canada with speakers from the US, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand, and Pakistan. 100+ attendees typical.
Interfaith speakers — Canadian MPs, Pakistani journalists, anti-racism activists, Islamic scholars, and human rights defenders.
Civic recognition in Brampton — working with Mayor Patrick Brown’s office to ensure municipal-level acknowledgement of the contribution of religious minorities.
Canadian MPs, the Mayor of Brampton, and Pakistani minority-faith former MPs have graced past Minority Day events.
Canadian Members of Parliament, the Mayor of Brampton, and minority-faith Members of Parliament from Pakistan grace the annual gathering. Focus on the role, contributions, sacrifices, hopes, and aspirations of Pakistan’s religious minority citizens.
ICV holds a virtual event with speakers from Canada, US, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand, and Pakistan. Hon. Ruby Sahota MP, Hon. Garnett Genuis MP, journalist Raheel Raza, Islamic scholar Allama Syed Sheryar Abdi, and Pakistani journalist Waqar Gillani all address the gathering.
ICV commemorates Jinnah’s founding vision of religious equality and acknowledges the contributions of religious minorities to Pakistan’s creation — while honouring Shahbaz Bhatti’s sacrifice in the ongoing struggle for freedom.
Every seat at every gala, every spread at every picnic, every chair at every Christmas table — all of it exists because donors, cosponsors, and supporters keep saying yes to the invitation. We’d be honoured to have you at the next one.
Social
activities.
Formal gala evenings and civic commemorations are only part of ICV’s calendar. The real texture of our community happens at Christmas dinners, summer picnics at Boyd Conservation Park, and the dozens of smaller gatherings where sponsored families become part of something.
Where sponsorship becomes community.
A one-year IRCC sponsorship ends when the official paperwork closes. The community is what continues. ICV’s social calendar exists because sponsored refugees don’t stop being our family after the sponsored year — they become the core of the next year’s welcoming committee.
At our Christmas dinners, sponsored families from 2017 are hosting the 2025 arrivals. At our summer picnics, children who came as 6-year-olds are teaching the newest 6-year-olds how to play in a Canadian park. This is the part that IRCC paperwork does not cover.
The three gatherings that anchor our year.
Christmas Dinner (December) — the signature social event. Organised largely by sponsored families themselves, often featuring a Christmas Nativity Play, carol singing, and a Christmas Quiz for the children. The Consul General of Pakistan has attended in past years.
Annual ICV Picnic (Summer) — held at Boyd Conservation Park near Toronto. In 2025, nearly 100 sponsored families attended, joined by visiting priests Rev. Fr. Yousaf Bagh (UK) and Rev. Fr. Ashraf Gill (Pakistan).
Airport welcomes & home-setup parties — the ongoing hospitality: every new arrival is met at Pearson, driven home, and welcomed with a kitchen already stocked by volunteers from previous sponsored families.
Nearly one hundred sponsored refugee families gathered for the annual picnic — the community ICV builds that outlasts any single year of sponsorship.
Integration measured in invitations.
Community in the record.
Christmas Dinner at Hope Reformed Church, Brampton
2022 marked ICV’s most successful sponsorship year to that date: 28 families and 79 individuals arrived in Canada. At the programme’s close, every sponsored family shared how their life had changed. Children from each family received gifts.
Hope Reformed Church, Brampton
Christmas Dinner at Chef Kausar Autaq Banquet Hall
Programme organised entirely by sponsored refugee families recently settled in Canada. Christmas Nativity Play, carol singing, Christmas Quiz for children with prizes. Consul General of Pakistan, Khalil Ahmed Bajwa, attends as chief guest.
Chef Kausar Autaq, Brampton
Annual ICV picnic at Boyd Conservation Park
Nearly 100 sponsored refugee families attend. Visiting priests Rev. Fr. Yousaf Bagh (UK) and Rev. Fr. Ashraf Gill (Pakistan). Hon. Akram Masih Gill, former Pakistan State Minister, among the honoured guests.
Boyd Conservation Park