Omatsu, Maryka

Maryka Omatsu was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1948.

She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto and graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School. After graduating, she practiced criminal, human rights, and administrative law in Toronto.

Maryka was a founding member of Sodan-kai, an organization whose goal was to educate Japanese Canadians in Toronto about the redress movement. Maryka served on the National Redress Committee that negotiated the historic 1988 settlement with the Government of Canada, afterward documenting its events in her award-winning book, Bittersweet Passage. She co-chaired the B.C. Redress campaign in 2022, and the province awarded the Japanese Canadian community one hundred million dollars for decades of racism.

In 1992, Maryka was the first East Asian woman appointed a judge in Canada. As the first Japanese Canadian judge, she has made significant contributions to justice, equity, and advocacy for Japanese Canadians and racialized communities. Maryka co-founded the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers and has since been recognized for her work, such as being the first Canadian recipient of the American National Asian Pacific Bar Association's Trailblazer Award. She has held teaching appointments across Canada, China, and Japan.

Now semi-retired, Maryka divides her time between Toronto and Vancouver.

Created by Alston So, March 2026.