1999 • Social Justice Award

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FEROZA BHABHA

Feroza grew up in Johannesburg and Springs, the eldest of four children whose father ran a medical practice in Bakerton. Although her family lived in modest, rented accommodation, her father wanted to give
his children the best possible opportunities.


Feroza and her siblings were enrolled in ballet, swimming and piano lessons with special arrangements being made for them,in some cases, to attend classes with children of other races. Her parents came from a mixed back- ground with Scottish, Italian and Indian ancestry. 

When Feroza was almost ten years old, her family emigrated to Canada as a result of the political situation in their home land.  Feroza vividly remembers her first days of school in their newly-adopted country.  It was the first time that she had been to a racially integrated school and it took her some time to become used to her new situation. What she missed most of all, when she first arrived, was her large extended family back in South Africa. 

After attending Havergal College, Feroza spent a year at Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland before registering for an honours Bachelor of Arts degree at Aix-en-Provence in France.

She followed this education with a further Honours BA at the University of Toronto.  A year later, Feroza obtained another BA degree – this time from the School of Interpreters and Translators at the University of Ottawa – languages being one of her passions (she speaks fluent French, some German and a smattering of Afrikaans and Gujerati). 

Not content with her superior academic performance to that time, she then took a Bachelor of Law degree, also at the University of Ottawa.  This has led to Feroza’s career in the legal field which she has pursued since 1987 when she was called to the Ontario Bar. 

Within only four years since leaving University, Feroza has climbed the career ladder at a giddying rate.  She currently holds the senior position of Crown Counsel (Crown Law Office) at the Criminal Ministry of the Attorney General for Ontario.  She was one of the first visible minority counsels to join the office. 

In addition to her busy business life, she also finds time to raise funds for the Lester B Pearson College of the Pacific – one of eight United World Colleges, (one of which is Waterford in Swaziland). 

She is also the divisional coordinator for Federated Health (an umbrella charity within the Public Service which raises funds for various health charities). 

Her ties with South Africa have remained strong and she was the founding director and member of the interim board of Canadian Friends of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, instrumental in organizing the recent Mandela and the Children event at the Sky Dome. 

When she does find some spare time, Feroza loves to scuba dive, play tennis and travel as much as possible.