April 5, 2013 CANADA-ASIA AGENDA www.asiapacific.ca Series Editor Brian Job Associate Editor Trang Nguyen Issue 33 The Tagalog Connection: The Human Side of Canada-Philippines Relations Eleanor del Rio-Laquian and Aprodicio A. Laquian The main link between Canada and the Philippines rests on the 600,000 or so Filipinos who now call Canada home. The significant Filipino population in Canada has gained growing attention in the context of Canada’s deepening engagement with Asia. This piece explores the human connection between Canada and the Philippines and highlights migration issues that could impact future generations of Filipinos looking to Canada as a destination of opportunity. Policy Recommendations: *Canadians need to be more aware of the important roles that Filipinos play in our society today; a number of policies and regulations that make it difficult for Filipinos to enter the Canadian work force and immigrate to Canada require reconsideration and reform. * The Federal Government needs to accelerate the processing of almost one million applications for entry from the Philippines into Canada. Tens of thousands of applicants from the Philippines have their lives on hold because of Canada’s inability to deal with this backlog. * The Federal Government, provincial governments, and qualification evaluation organizations need to further improve the efficiency of the process of evaluating the educational and professional qualifications of immigrants. The de-skilling of tens of thousands of Filipino immigrants is a waste of valuable human resources and hinders their integration into the Canadian workforce. * The Federal Government should not try to devalue the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP). Rather, the government should take steps to improve the program. Important changes that should be adopted include: making the live-in provision of the program optional so that married caregivers may bring their families along and avoid the ill effects of years of family separation. In addition, the program should find a way to allow Canadians who do not have the physical space to house the caregiver in their own living establishment, benefit from the program. * The Federal Government should reconsider its decision to reduce development assistance to the Philippines at a time when so many Filipinos are contributing valuable human capital to Canada. The government should further support programs that would establish better linkages between Filipinos in Canada and encourage the diaspora to provide greater bilateral assistance to their home country in trade, cultural relations and other programs. ISSN 1911-6039 Page 1 of 9 April 5, 2013 www.asiapacific.ca Issue 33 Executive Summary Filipino-Canadian Migration Streams For the last 50 years, Filipinos have become seamlessly Filipinos started coming to Canada in the 1960s when integrated into Canadian mainstream society, yet when the United States required aliens in the U.S. to renew the Canadian census results released in October 2012 their visas from outside the country. At that time, revealed that Tagalog (the basis of their national Filipino nurses, doctors, dentists, engineers and other language) was the fastest growing non-official language professionals were working in states in the Eastern US. in Canada, it was news to most Canadians.1 The fact that Given the proximity of Canada to renew their visas they the number of Tagalog speakers went up by 64% within would cross the border. However many decided to stay. the past five years should not have come as a surprise. These first Filipino migrants were highly-educated, In 2010, the Philippines surpassed China and India as the predominantly women who passed the qualifying board main source of recent immigrants to Canada. At present, exams of their respective professions to get a license to the Philippine Commission on Filipinos Overseas reports practice. However, with the arrival of more professionals that 667,674 Filipinos have moved to Canada.2 trained overseas and the increasing difficulty of evaluating their various qualifications, the professional boards The significant Filipino population in Canada has gained deemed it easier to send all foreign-trained professionals growing attention and interest in the context of Canada’s back to school to get appropriate Canadian credentials. deepening engagement with Asia. This piece provides a brief overview of the relationship between Canada and As Figure 1 shows, there were only 770 Filipinos in the Philippines focusing on the human connection which Canada prior to 1965. They were included in a line called provides the strongest link between both countries. “other countries, not British.” Between 1966 and 1970, The piece also highlights some policy challenges, such however, 16,143 Filipinos were admitted and given as the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, that have their own country listing. Since then, there have been raised concerns among current and future generations of two peaks in Filipino migration to Canada, due to family Filipinos looking to Canada as a destination of opportunity. reunification and the Live-in Caregiver Program – 79,481 Number of Filipinos Admitted to Canada 124,369 79,481 66,761 51,538 43,190 32,172 34,991 26,299 22,197 16,143 770 1965 1966-70 1971-75 1976-80 1981-85 1986-90 1991-95 1996-2000 2001-05 2006-10 2011 Figure 1. Number of Filipino Immigrants in Canada Per 5-Year Periods ISSN 1911-6039 Page 2 of 9 April 5, 2013 www.asiapacific.ca Issue 33 in 1991-1995, and 124,369 in 2006-2010 (with 34,991 the Philippines, the amount is considered “exploitative” coming in 2011 alone). In addition to immigrants, by LCP critics who advocate that caregivers be classified 299,622 temporary workers, including caregivers, initially and paid as skilled workers. admitted as temporary, arrived between 2002 and 2011.3 The admission of so many caregivers was not a purely Canadian humanitarian gesture. They were brought in to free Canadian women from housework and enable them to join the labour force; they were also recruited to meet the demands and needs for day care and health service for the elderly and sick in Canada. The People Connection For Filipinos, an important feature of Canadian immigration has been the family reunification program. It allowed families to immigrate together and stay together. However, as dependent children, parents and grandparents came, the overall average educational level of Filipino migrants ©istockphoto.com/alexskopje dipped, although many primary migrants exceeded the educational qualifications demanded by the Points System. The Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) of Subsequently, the Foreign Domestic Movement (FDM) 2002 adversely affected Filipino migration to Canada. It in 1982 and the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) which admitted TFWs to work in hotels, fast food chains, service replaced it in 1992, required only a grade 12 education industries, construction and farms. Problems arose. Some and lowered educational levels of Filipino migrants even employers did not pay contractual wages and benefits more. Temporary foreign workers did not have to meet or garnished wages to pay recruiters. Others did not pay the requirements of the Points System. overtime work and workers’ airfares as required. The TFWs tolerated these abuses because if they complained, they As more Canadian women joined the work force, the high might be deported or their work permits rescinded. They demand for caregivers and domestic workers resulted refrained from joining labour unions for fear of being fired in about 20% of all Filipino migrants per year coming as as troublemakers.5 domestic workers or caregivers. The LCP fast tracked their arrival to care for Canadian children, elderly and disabled. In June 2008, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) After working as a live-in caregiver for at least two years, launched the Canada Experience Class (CEC) to fill up 38 they were allowed to apply as permanent residents and types of skilled occupations. It was meant to reduce the eventually as citizens. The number of Filipino caregivers backlog of TFWs applications whose processing time had admitted under the LCP ranged from a low of 4,700 in 2002 increased from 25 to 29 months. TFWs were also allowed to a high of 14,000 in 2010. About 92% of all caregivers to work as caregivers, but without the option to apply in Canada came from the Philippines and about 98% of for permanent residence after two years. An immediate them were women.4 effect of this was a reduction in the number of caregivers admitted under the LCP (from 11,222 in 2008 to 5,603 in Caregivers are usually paid the minimum wage but even 2011) because TFWs in the country were already doing an average income of about $30,000/year enables them the job.6 to send money home because they usually pay their employers only about $350 for room and board per month. In 2011, CIC issued regulatory monitoring systems Although this salary is more than what they could earn in supposedly to weed out unscrupulous employers. ISSN 1911-6039 Page 3 of 9 April 5, 2013 www.asiapacific.ca Issue 33 However, the systems were voluntary and ineffective. Two nation-wide surveys of Filipino immigrants conducted TFWs were forced to suffer abuse in silence because if in 1972 and 2006 listed their reasons for coming to they displeased the employers, they were not offered a Canada.9 Table 1 shows that Filipino migrants before permanent position after four years of work and they had 1972 came “to seek better economic opportunities.” They to leave the country and wait another four years before were mainly young professionals (about 85% had college they could re-apply for admission.7 degrees and up) and were attracted by prospects of higher salaries, good health benefits and a better quality of life.