Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

“Making the Filipino Community Count in British Columbia”: A BC-wide Gathering of the Filipino Community and Beyond

On February 9-11, 2007, the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) and the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) will host a BC-wide gathering of the Filipino community. Appropriately themed “Making the Filipino Community Count in British Columbia,” the gathering aims to advance the community’s full participation in BC and to contribute to the strengthening of social cohesion in a multicultural society like Canada.

The Filipino community in BC and Canada continues to rapidly grow in numbers. There are an estimated 500,000 Filipinos in Canada, making them the fourth largest visible minority group in the country. Filipinos are the third largest visible minority group in B.C. and the second in Vancouver.

Despite the Filipino community’s growth in numbers, its public participation and civic involvement as a whole community remains marginalized from mainstream Canadian society.

Various academic and community-based research studies have shown that the Filipino community’s experience with occupational segregation and low economic status has negatively impacted their civic participation, integration, and socialization in Canadian society. Filipinos are among the highest and most educated of immigrants but are the lowest paid, with the majority of Filipinos doing janitorial or domestic work. 65% of Filipinos in Canada are women many of whom came under the Live-in-Caregiver Program (LCP), a Canadian immigration program that recruits low-paid live-in domestic workers and caregivers.

The BC-wide gathering of the Filipino community aims to promote the settlement, integration, and participation of the Filipino community in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Canada. It aspires to make the Filipino community count in BC.

The 2 ½ day gathering will provide an opportunity to discuss, increase capacity in policy analysis and assessment, and set the process for policy engagement and advocacy in the following issues of concern:

• Overcoming economic disadvantage by looking into professional accreditation and its connection to the Filipino community’s economic marginalization and lack of economic opportunity
• Making the Filipino youth count in the community’s future by combating systemic racism, discrimination, and social exclusion
• Enhancing Filipino women’s equality and human rights especially Filipino women facing violence and trafficking
• Promoting the rights and welfare of Filipino migrant workers in Canada, especially those under the Live-in Caregiver Program.

The weekend gathering is open to the Filipino community and the general public.* An evening reception is also planned to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Kalayaan Centre, a dynamic Filipino community centre in Vancouver. The Philippine Women Centre’s annual “Balikbayan Raffle” – with a grand prize of a trip for two to the Philippines - will also be drawn during the reception.

* Friday and Saturday programmes are open to the public; Sunday workshops are only for members of the Filipino community. Registration and registration fee (tba) required.

For more information, please contact Monica or Marilou at 604-215-1103 or email pwc@kalayaancentre.net