What We Do

Nearly half of the world’s population — more than 3.5 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 700 million people live in extreme poverty (less than USD $1.90 a day), the majority of whom are in Africa and Asia.

Aga Khan Foundation Canada tackles the root causes of this poverty through a holistic and interconnected set of programs. These initiatives address people’s most pressing needs and enable them to unlock their full potential, with a particular focus on marginalized groups like women and girls.

Our programs aim to ensure access to high-quality education and health care, ensure food security, improve economic well-being, and develop resilient communities and societies. We bring together human, financial, and technical resources to some of the poorest and most marginalized communities, with an emphasis on women and girls, investing in human potential, expanding opportunity, and improving quality of life.

To see others as you wish to be seen

Taylor Marlow was part of the 2018-2019 cohort of the International Youth Fellowship Program. She was placed at the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

She was “the woman who loses all the babies”

Jennifer Yang is an award-winning journalist with the Toronto Star, where she currently writes about identity and inequality.

Tame the Waters

Frédérick Lavoie is an independent journalist and an author from Quebec.

The chain school

Can we teach the same way we make Big Macs?

Migration with dignity from a sinking island nation

Shannon Gormley’s project focused on the country of Kiribati, and how its most vulnerable residents are dealing with rising sea levels and climate change.

Ebola, one year later

Kayla Hounsell’s project focused on the legacy of Ebola in Liberia, and how the country is working to prevent another outbreak.

Women’s rights in Afghanistan: What has been gained, and what is at risk

Mellissa Fung’s reporting project focused on women’s rights in post-NATO Afghanistan.

Safe House: Child marriage and “the cutting season” in Tanzania

Marc Ellison’s reporting project focused on child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) in Tanzania.

Sowing the seeds of potential: Women

While program has transformed lives in the classroom, it has lifted up women in the community as well.