Dr. Rafi Mustafa is the Chief Executive Officer of Indusflow Systems Inc., headquartered in Markham, Ontario. He came to Canada from Pakistan in 1966 and earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia in 1969. In subsequent years he was engaged in teaching and research at various universities in UK, Pakistan, Sudan and Canada. In 1978, he left academia and got into information technology. He joined Canadian National Communications and provided services to CN-owned companies in Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nothern British Columbia.
Community Service
International Development and Relief Foundation
Dr. Mustafa has been active on the boards of several non-profit Canadian organizations that carry out a range of projects to help underprivileged communities. Among these is IDRF, the International Development and Relief Foundation, a Canadian registered charitable organization that provides relief aid and development assistance. Dr. Mustafa was among the initial group of immigrants who helped found IDRF in the mid-eighties, and he has been a dedicated member ever since then. He has served in the capacity of Member of the Board of Directors, Executive Member, was twice elected as President, and is currently on their Board as a Member of the Advisory Council. He has actively assisted in guiding, directing, and conducting some IDRF relief aid in communities suffering from natural disasters or conflicts. He has helped implement development projects including education, healthcare, clean water, vocational schools for girls, reviving agriculture and building livelihoods, etc. All these were designed to help communities rise out of endemic poverty and give hope for better futures. The work has been carried out in over 40 countries overseas. In recent years, IDRF has also become active in Canada, where its particular target is immigrants and vulnerable youth. IDRF has been repeatedly recognized by Financial Post, MoneySense and Charity Intelligence and rated as a Top 100 Canadian organization, chosen from thousands of registered Canadian charities.
Reh’ma Foundation
Dr. Mustafa was also associated with Reh’ma Foundation, which was formed in 2006 to help seniors. He served as a Member of the Board of Directors. During his time with the organization, the focus was seniors who contended with issues including lack of mobility, language barriers or poverty, but whose plight was unknown. Therefore, they suffered societal neglect. He devoted himself to helping Reh’ma arrange social activities, meals-on-wheels and other needed services for seniors.
Canada-Pakistan Business Council
He uses his immense skill as a businessman by serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Canada-Pakistan Business Council to enhance business and trade between the two countries. He has also visited Pakistan as part of a trade delegation to Pakistan.
Emmanuel College
He has a keen interest in Interfaith initiatives, and in 2014 he was asked to join as a Member of the Advisory Committee for Muslim Studies Program at Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto. He continues to be active with this Program as a Member of the Fundraising Committee.
Entrepreneur
After he left CN in 1986, he co-founded Calmar Orthopaedics, a company devoted to designing and manufacturing artificial limbs. The facility provides a variety of custom-built and fitted prosthetic devices to amputees. The driving force behind the founding of Calmar Orthopaedics was the Soviet-Afghan war, which produced over a quarter of a million amputees. It was realized that since prosthetics is a labour-intensive field that requires more skill than technology, a program could be set up to bring technicians to Canada for training and send them back to set up their own shops. However, by the time the facility became operational, the Soviets left Afghanistan, and the focus of funding agencies changed; but the facility still continues to serve the domestic clientele.
In 1991, he founded Indus Systems Training College. It had a humble beginning as a Private Career College, accredited by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities; it gained a reputation for providing high-quality training in IT and enjoyed the reputation for not a single Student Loan default because of the high placement rate. Indus Systems also operated as an IT management company that provided on-the-job training opportunities for students who accompanied the technicians when they went out to customer sites on service calls. By 2002, Indus Systems Training College had produced over 5,000 network engineers, database administrators and software engineers.
By 2003, the IT bubble burst, and there was a glut of unemployed IT professionals in the Canadian job market. Consequently, the enrolment in IT-related courses in universities and colleges went down, and Indus Systems had to close its training division, but the IT services division continued.
The current company, Indusflow Systems Inc. (www.indusflow.com) , a federally incorporated company, is the offshoot of Indus Systems. It serves worldwide clientele from its head office in Markham and a satellite office in Trinidad from where it runs a call centre to process service requests from customers. The Services Division provides managed IT Services and cybersecurity to a broad discipline of clients, with particular emphasis on seniors’ homes. The Software Division has developed a suite of financial applications software branded as SYNDi (www.SYNDi.ca), with users worldwide.
The company takes pride in customer retention. Most customers, who came on board 30 years ago when the company started its operation, are still there.
Author
Dr. Mustafa is a published author. His pursuit for peace and harmony among people of different faiths and ethnicities comes out in his writing: his first book of fiction, Tales of Birehra, is a collection of linked stories set in a rural community in India with a simple, harmonious way of life and its gradual descent into discord, suspicion and violence. The poignant description of ordinary people caught up in the chaos and forced to leave their homes and migrate elsewhere is universal. Similarly, his novel, Ay Tahayyur-e-Ishq, is the story of a family spanning three generations and whose fortunes vacillate as they go through different societal disruptions. Again, the age-old harmony of this family’s multi-faith society is shattered suddenly by the upheaval and chaos. Although the story is set in Partition of India and Pakistan, in reality, the eloquent depiction of the bewilderment and trauma felt by the protagonists is universal. It could be the story of any family, anywhere in the world where war has upended societies and uprooted families. The lively accounts of a family trying to rebuild a new life from scratch in a strange new country is a story that can resonate with innumerable immigrants as it is told with heartfelt understanding, empathy and is livened with touches of gentle humour. Ik Raasta Hai Zindagi is another one of his novels in which he brings up serious issues such as Thalassemia, postpartum depression and needless killings during the strife for the freedom of Bangladesh.
The Person
Dr. Mustafa is known for his powerful and passionate speeches. He has drawn attention to the plight of vulnerable people in need worldwide, including displaced people and migrants. He tells vivid stories of the challenges they face. He was invited to address the Empire Club of Canada as the President of IDRF and has been a keynote speaker at various events.
He is a man of deep passion, generosity of heart, solid principles and exceptional powers of observation and understanding of human conditions. He is a successful business entrepreneur, an academician, and highly respected and sought after as an active humanitarian. He is admired for assisting communities through a range of initiatives over the years; he is an inspiration to all who have the privilege of knowing him.
He is a modest person, not bringing attention to his efforts or initiatives. Still, even a glance at his life shows a man of immense accomplishments, whose range of deeds have brought attention to people in need, including immigrants. He has helped numerous people in far-flung parts of the world with quiet determination, personal generosity, and actions.
- Penny Fancy