#Pinoys Find Home in Canada

An awesome guest post by one of my newest contributors Cristina. Cristina is an amazing woman/mom who enjoys sharing about her Filipino culture and her transition to life in Canada. Follow Cristina on Twitter and please be sure to visit her blog, Momsie’s Blog! 

I am one of the thousand Filipinos (Pinoys) who decided to immigrate to Canada. Together with my husband and my (then) 2 kids, we arrived in Canada in 2009 through the provincial nominee program.

If you are eagerly reading this post, it is either because you are a Filipino who is also in Canada; you just landed in Canada; you are considering coming to Canada; or you are not a Filipino but you live in Canada and are surrounded by Filipinos in your neighborhood or at work.

And if you are wondering whether coming to Canada is a good decision, here’s what I have to say –

“… Climate in Canada may be the exact opposite of Philippines tropical weather but WE FOUND HOME in Canada, particularly in Winnipeg.”

It can’t be denied that the Filipino community has rapidly increased not just in the province where I am in but in the whole of Canada.  Census data indicates that the Philippines have been Canada’s largest source of immigration since 2006.

We Filipino immigrants may have our own reasons of moving to Canada. But one thing is for sure, we will not sponsor our parents and spouse or even sign the proof of support (now referred as Settlement Plan) for our cousins or uncle to support their application to immigrate and join us in this foreign land if we do not see good possibilities… This is also because most Filipinos believe that life is better in Canada.

Skilled worker, employer sponsorship, student visa may be your passport to enter to Canada, but I sure know that, many will agree with me if I say that it is “family ties” that drive most immigration of Filipinos to Canada. But no matter what reason each of us may have, it is evident that we, Filipinos fearlessly left the Philippines to take advantage of the promising life that Canada offers. I for one can attest to that.  My husband has a small business running and I had a stable job back home, but we still chose to take our chance in Canada.

There are approximately half a million of Filipino ancestry in Canada, and Tagalog (one of the main languages in the Philippines) is now one of the fastest-growing immigrant languages in Canada.

The growing Filipino community in the different provinces of Canada, including Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta and of course Manitoba (yes, I’m in this province) can’t be gone unnoticed because of a number of Filipino-Canadians who continue to make names:

• Tobias Enverga Jr., lives in Toronto and was born in the Philippines.  First Filipino-Canadian in the Senate in 2012, first Filipino elected to local government in Toronto.

• Rey Pagtakhan, lives in Winnipeg and was born in the Philippines. First Filipino-Canadian elected to Parliament, 1988-2004, and first cabinet minister from 2001-2004.

• Mable Elmore, born to a Filipino mother in Langley.  First MLA of Filipino descent was elected to the provincial legislature in B.C. in 2009 and again in 2011.

• Karla Henry, born in the Philippines and spent 10 years living outside Vancouver before returning to the Philippines to live. Crowed as 2008 Miss Earth.

• Maria Aragon, born in Winnipeg of Filipino descent.  A YouTube sensation who appeared in concert with Lady Gaga and was visited by Stephen Harper during the 2011 election campaign

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As for me and my family, I can say that we found home in Canada, particularly in the city where we are in – Winnipeg. ‘Peg city may not be known as much as other cities in Canada but it is home for more than 38, 000 Filipinos who continuously make real success stories.

– Sources: Statistics Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Wikipedia, other news sources.