MP Arif was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Parkdale—High Park in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019. Arif was appointed by Prime Minister Trudeau as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, and has served in this role since 2018. He also served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, (2015-2017) helping welcome over 50,000 Syrian refugees to Canada. He was then appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Heritage (2017-18), where Arif worked on Multiculturalism, restoring Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, and co-developed with First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders Canada’s first-ever Indigenous Languages legislation.

Between degrees, he spent a year working in Ottawa with 2 MPs under the Parliamentary Internship Programme.He was one of the founding Board members of Toronto’s legal aid clinic SALCO. He is a supporter of the Redwood Shelter for abused women, has regularly helped at the Parkdale Food Bank, and led community efforts to address mental health stigma. He continues to volunteer with Roncyworks and the Sorauren Park Hosers, flooding the local rink. He is a lawyer by profession.

Arif has an Honours B.A. in History and Political Science from McGill and completed his LL.B. at the University of Toronto, where he graduated as Valedictorian. He speaks English, French, and some Hindi. His Tibetan, Polish and Ukrainian are works in progress. He loves coaching his two young and very active boys.