By many estimates, the Philippines has overtaken China and India as number one source country for new immigrants, a recent news dispatch quoting Vancouver mayor Greg Robertson reported.

Mayor Robertson made the observation in a speech during the 1st Maharlika Awards Philippines Independence Gala night in Vancouver last June 19.  The city official noted that the Filipino community in the province (British Columbia) now “has strength in numbers and it is growing fast.”

A recent four-part series in the Vancouver Sun, entitled “The Filipino Factor: Canada draws a growing number of Filipinos”, cited by the mayor, has reported “(q)uietly and without fanfare, the Philippines has become Canada’s largest source country for immigrants and temporary foreign workers combined.”

In the initial issue of its series last June 12, the Sun reported that Filipinos have been coming to Canada “via an array of skilled and non-skilled temporary workers that is key to the Philippines outpacing China and India as our largest source of newcomers.”

The Sun said “(w)hen Ottawa rolled the first of them out in 2001, the focus was on filling labour shortages in the technology sector.  They were expanded to other fields, including nursing, construction trades, truck transportation, fast food services, hotel management, retail and more.”

The news article observed that “Filipinos rushed at the opportunity through programs like the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program, which offers an accelerated path to immigration for skilled workers, and the Canadian Experience Class which started in 2008 and allows some temporary foreign workers to apply for permanent residence after working for two years.”

“While temporary foreign workers from the U.S., Australia and Mexico tend to come, work and go as the label “temporary” implies,” the Sun continued, “most Filipinos aspire to immigrate…They come believing there is nothing temporary about their venture, no matter what any first contract might say.”

Robertson hailed the Filipino Canadian pioneers honored in the inaugural awards night arranged by the Filipino-Canadian Cultural Heritage of British Columbia for “paving the way for newcomers and the younger generation to succeed.”

He also noted that there are now elected officials of Filipino heritage – one at the municipal level and one at the provincial level – in British Columbia.

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