Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir and her husband moved to London, Ont., three years ago. Abdul-Qaadir coached at the London Islamic School. (Haute Hijab Sport)
Bilquis Abdul-Qaadir, the trailblazing basketball player who set up an academy for girls and coached multiple sports at an Islamic school in London, Ont., has been denied permanent residency in Canada and will have to go back to the United States.
“We’ve been here for two years, my son is Canadian, and we would love to be part of this country, but we finally got the message from immigration that we were denied permanent residency. It’s very unexpected,” said Abdul Qaadir from her London home. “I’m at a loss for words. I’ve single-handedly brought sports to an underserviced community. It’s heartbreaking.”
Abdul-Qaadir and her husband, A.W. Massey, moved to London from Tennessee three years ago.
She said she hasn’t been able to work in Canada since August, when her work permit expired and wasn’t renewed by a Canadian border official.
