Mistry was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India in 1952, into a family that was part of the community of Bombay Parsis, a minority ethnic group originating from Iran, who practiced the Zoroastrian religion. He grew up in a typical Indian middle-class household; his father was an advertising executive and his mother worked inside the home. Mistry attended a Jesuit high school in Bombay and received a traditional British-style secondary education. He earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Bombay, where he studied alongside his future wife, Freny Elevy. Mistry then decided to emigrate with her to Canada in 1975 to seek further education and opportunities. He continued his education at the University of Toronto in English and Philosophy. Mistry’s early life in both India and Canada, as well as his experience of immigration, forms the backdrop for much of his fiction.