Parliament ( MP ) for the Toronto area the riding of York South
Ahmed Hussen took which position from Oct 2015 to 2017?
Ahmed Hussen Ahmed Hussen ( ; born 1976 ) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who presently serves as Minister of Families , Children and Social Development . A member of the Liberal Party , Hussen has served as the member of Parliament ( MP ) for the Toronto area the riding of York South—Weston since the 2015 federal election . He is the first Somali-Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons and the first to hold a federal Cabinet position . Early life and education . Hussen was born and raised in Mogadishu , Somalia . He has five older siblings and his father was a long-distance trucker . Hussen learned to speak English there from a cousin . He and his family left Mogadishu after the Somali Civil War reached their neighbourhood . They lived for a period of time in Kenya , in a camp in Mombasa and several apartments in Nairobi . Two years after leaving Mogadishu , Hussens parents bought him an airplane ticket to Toronto , where two of his brothers had already moved . He initially resided with a cousin in Hamilton , and moved to Toronto in 1994 , where he settled in Regent Park in 1996 . Hussen completed secondary school in Hamilton . Due to a Canadian government policy that delayed granting permanent residency status to emigrants from Somalia , he had to decline three athletic running scholarships to universities in the United States . Hussen eventually attended York University , where he earned a BA in History in 2002 . Having received a law degree from the University of Ottawa , and passed the bar exam in September 2012 , he specialized in the practice of immigration and criminal law . Hussen is married to Ebyan Farah , a fellow Somali-Canadian refugee . Together , they have three sons . Early career . Hussen began his career in public service and politics in the fall of 2001 . He started out doing volunteer work in Legislative Assembly of Ontario . He was hired the following year as an assistant to Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty , then-leader of the provinces Official Opposition . Hussen was promoted to special assistant , concurrent with McGuintys 2003 election as the premier of Ontario . He held this new post for two years , during which he was in charge of issues management , policy and communications . Hussen later worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Polices Youth Engaged in National Security Issues committee . He also founded the Regent Park Community Council . The representative body facilitated a $500 million revitalization and redevelopment project in Regent Park , the largest such initiative in the country . During the projects implementation , he was tasked with consulting with and protecting the interests of over 15,000 residents . Hussen currently serves as the national president of the Canadian Somali Congress ( CSC ) . Under his leadership , the CSC partnered with the Canadian International Peace Project and Canadian Jewish Congress to establish the Canadian Somali-Jewish Mentorship Project . It is the first national mentoring and development project between a sizable Muslim community and the Jewish community . In May 2010 , the Canadian Somali Congress and Canadian International Peace Project also partnered with the Global Enrichment Foundation to launch the Somali Women Scholarship Program . Hussen acts as the programs founding director . Until 2012 , Hussen served as a sitting member of the Harper governments Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security . Established in 2005 , the panel brought together prominent members from a number of Canadas cultural communities and government officials in order to discuss policy and program issues , and to promote dialogue and strengthen understanding between the national authorities and its electorate . Liberal Party . Member of Parliament for York South—Weston . In December 2014 , Hussen presented himself as a candidate for a Liberal Party of Canada seat in the riding of York South—Weston for the 42nd Canadian federal election . He won the nomination in a field of six aspirants . The victory makes Hussen the first Somali-Canadian elected to the House of Commons . Minister of Immigration , Citizenship and Refugees . On January 10 , 2017 , Hussen was appointed minister of immigration as part of a Cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau . The nomination makes Hussen the first Somali-Canadian to serve in the government cabinet . As immigration minister , Hussen announced on 2017 the Government of Canada will welcome nearly one million immigrants over the next three years . The number of migrants would climb to 310,000 in 2018 , up from 300,000 in 2017 . That number was to rise to 330,000 in 2019 then 340,000 in 2020 . On October 31 , 2018 , Hussen announced that the Government of Canada had updated its multi-year immigration levels plan , which would see the number of new immigrants in Canada rise to 350,000 by 2021 . This plan was to see immigration levels rise by 40,000 more than Canadas target of 310,000 immigrants in 2018 . The planned increases were set to reflect needs in the economic class of immigration to aid with Canadas labour shortages , as well as in humanitarian streams of immigration . In a 2018 , Angus Reid Institute poll found that Hussen is one of the least popular ministers in Trudeaus cabinet . Minister of Families , Children and Social Development . Hussen was shuffled to the families , children and social development portfolio following the 2019 federal election . Awards . Hussen has over the years received honours and recognition for his public work . In January 2004 , the Toronto Star named him among the 10 individuals who have made significant contributions to Toronto in various fields , including community service , business , sports and science . In 2017 , Hussen was presented with the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards , an award that honours the achievements of immigrants who have chosen to make Canada their home . Hussen was also presented a Queens Gold and Diamond Jubilee medal . He also received the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Authority Award for his efficacious advocacy work in Regent Park . External links . - Official Website - Bio & mandate from the prime minister - American Islamic Leadership Coalition – Ahmed Hussen