Filipino Pinoys in Canada

#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 herΒ transitionΒ to lifeΒ in Canada. Follow Cristina on Twitter and please be sure to visit her blog, Momsie’s Blog!Β 

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. Β Census data indicates that the Philippines have been Canada’s largest source of immigration since 2006.

Filipino Pinoys in Canada

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.Β 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.Β I for one can attest to that.Β  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.Β  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.Β  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.Β  A YouTube sensation who appeared in concert with Lady Gaga and was visited by Stephen Harper during the 2011 election campaign

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As for me and my family, I can say that we found home in Canada, particularly in the city where we are in – Winnipeg. β€˜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.

 

robertson college winnipeg

12 Comments

  1. Hi,

    Great blog, I’ve been searching for this kind of blog for the past few weeks.
    Anyway, I recently moved in Canada a month ago. I got bored and wanting to get a job soon. I’m a nurse trying to get my equivalence for me to practice my profession but its taking so long.

    And now, I was trying to apply in any job but there’s no call or feedback from those companies.
    Could anyone give me some advice on how to get a job? Is there’s any organization for newly immigrants that provides trainings and help us immigrants to find a job?

    Thank you

  2. But let us also remember nowadays that Winnipeg is now a jumping board heading to other provinces. I admit, I belong to that group, after living there for 6 years I got tired of very cold temperatures, limited places to go specially during winters, and influx of new migrants who cannot find a decent job. I consider myself blessed when I was there working in the government but the vacuum inside keeps asking and bothering. Don’t get me wrong, I love Winnipeg for it’s simplicity. Have a lot of friends and relatives still. But there is still a feeling inside that really craving for more better life outside Manitoba. Since I came from a busy city of Manila, the effort to belong is still there. Oooooppps, Here I am just expressing my opinion… I welcome haters too, but this is the reality…

  3. I love all the different cultures that make up our country! I especially welcome the Filipino community for their delicious food! πŸ˜‰

  4. And thanks to you Natalie for allowing me to share my story in your blog site. You continue to inspire more working moms and bloggers like me with your blogs, keep it up πŸ™‚

  5. I love this post Cristina! Thank you for sharing your story. The happiness you are experiencing as a result of your decision making comes through very clearly in your post!

PegCityLovely is all about the convo - let your thoughts be known!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.