TORONTO -- A woman who immigrated to Canada from Pakistan is search of greater freedom and gender equality says before arriving she didn't realize the barriers she'd face in her new home and wants more done to close the gaps for women of colour.

Soofia Mahmood is a photographer, writer and director of strategic communications and executive planning for The 519 — an organization in Toronto's gay village. It receives more than 500,000 visitors a year.

Mahmood said Canada has a global image that appears to show it has figured out gender equality, but said she discovered it still has a long way to go.

“I‘ve realized in Pakistan if I was fighting for my rights as a woman, here I have to fight for my right as a woman of colour,” Mahmood said in an interview with CTV News Toronto Thursday.

“There are more layers added to my flight, to my struggle.”

Mahmood believes education is needed and its time to see more diverse women in positions of leadership to truly realize the equality she’s been searching for.

“We should set the bar higher, expect more from Canada,” Mahmood said.

In Pakistan, Mahmood faced threats on her life and of sexual violence. She said she was surrounded by boys and men viewed with a superior status.

“I couldn’t even explore my potential,” she said.

“I just knew that I don’t want to limit myself and I want to see, I want to explore myself and the world, and not just through this gender lens.”

Mahmood has now been in Canada for four years. She has a 14-year-old daughter and continues to make art.

She did the photos for a campaign geared towards Muslim women with The 519 and puts out her own work under the name ‘Soofia Says’.

“A lot of times you accept, you believe the limits that are given to you, and to me that’s important work, how we create that awareness about their own rights,” Mahmood said.