Arif Virani
Arif Virani is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada from 2023 to 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, Virani represented Parkdale—High Park in the House of Commons from 2015 to 2025.
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, he held a number of parliamentary secretary portfolios, including to the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship from 2015 to 2017, and to the minister of Canadian heritage from 2017 to 2018, to the minister of justice and attorney general from 2018 to 2021, and to the minister of international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development from 2021 to 2023. On February 10, 2025, Virani announced he would not be running for re-election during the 2025 Canadian federal election.
Background
Virani's roots are in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India although he was born in Kampala. Virani is a multilingual Ismaili Muslim who came to Canada as a refugee from Uganda after the expulsion of Indians from that country. Upon arriving in Canada in 1972, his family was taken in by the YMCA in Montreal. His family then became more permanently established in Toronto. Virani spent his childhood growing up in the Flemingdon Park and Willowdale neighbourhoods.Education
Virani graduated as a joint honours Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from McGill University in 1994. He then graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Virani remained connected to the University of Toronto Faculty of Law following his graduation by remaining involved with its alumni committee.Legal career
Virani began his legal career by articling for Fasken Martineau DuMoulin in 1999. Following this, he worked in London, United Kingdom for a year with the support of the Harold G. Fox scholarship. This scholarship for recent graduates of the Bar Admission Course allows for a pupilage with leading barristers at the Inns of Court in London.In 2003, he went on to work as a lawyer for the constitutional law branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. During his time with the Ontario constitutional law branch, he appeared in one case at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Virani did not practise law when he was an MP. He remained an L1 class licensed lawyer according to the Law Society of Ontario, and continued to be "entitled to practise law in Ontario as a barrister and solicitor".
After retiring from politics, Virani was hired by Torys LLP as a senior legal counsel, working in litigation and dispute resolution.