Ajith Thiyagalingam

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT AJITH THIYAGALINGAM

Ajith is a lawyer specializing in immigration and refugee law and international human rights law. He is the eldest son of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who sought refuge in Canada to escape persecution during the Sri Lankan Civil War. His personal experiences growing up in a Tamil refugee family have provided him with a unique perspective and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by refugees and migrants.Currently, Ajith is employed as an associate immigration and refugee lawyer. He is also pursuing a Master’s in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. Alongside his legal practice, he is an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University – Faculty of Law, teaching in the Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law program.Ajith’s previous roles include working as an Immigration Staff Lawyer with Legal Aid Ontario and as Legal Counsel in the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. He has also acted as a Legal Advisor to the Legal Resources Centre, the largest public interest law clinic and human rights organization in South Africa. He worked as a caseworker in the Immigration Division at Parkdale Community Legal Services.Ajith serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors at JusticeNet, a national not-for-profit organization seeking to make justice more accessible, and on the Board of Directors of CAYR Community Connections, an HIV/AIDS charitable organization. He was previously on the Board of Directors of the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto. He was named to York University’s Top 30 Changemakers Under 30 and the Canadian Tamil Professionals Association’s Emerging Professional Award. He was a successful candidate in the Canadian federal government\'s flagship Recruitment of Policy Leaders (RPL) program. Ajith received a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School, a Master of Arts in International Law and Diplomacy with distinction from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) & University for Peace (UPEACE), as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from York University. He completed the Global Institute for Human Rights program at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where a panel of judges from the United Nations, World Bank, and International Finance Corporation awarded him the Top 3 Prize for The Protect All Girls Project to Combat Global Child Marriage. He completed the Fintech Programme at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and the Executive Programme in Business Strategy and Finance from INSEAD Business School.