August 1, 2025 - A B.C. government report confirms that Canadian Filipinos in British Columbia seek a dedicated cultural centre to help build community and “foster a sense of family and belonging, learn from elders, and create pride in heritage for the youth of the Filipino community”.
Released in the wake of the April 26, 2025 tragedy that befell the Lapu-Lapu street festival in Vancouver, the What We Heard report captures the results of a public engagement survey conducted by the provincial government between May and December of 2024.
The 10-question survey received more than 1,200 responses and is supplemented by a series of roundtable discussions with key representatives from Filipino community groups in August and September of 2023 and February 2024.
The province worked with the Mabuhay House Society in community engagement planning and raising awareness, forming partnerships with over 30 community organizations and engaged in more than 30 events for the study.
Three key themes emerged from the said study: Bayanihan (Filipino concept of community spirit), recognition and representation, and learning and sharing.
Under Bayanihan or community spirit lies the desire for an inclusive, accessible space supporting community connections. The envisioned cultural space must recognize the contributions of Filipinos in BC and physically represent Filipino culture and heritage. Finally, under the theme of learning and sharing, the cultural centre should support all British Columbians to learn about Filipino culture and heritage, adding that the space should provide “an opportunity for Filipinos to share their culture with each other and the rest of the citizens of this province.”
B.C.’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Anne Kang shared the provincial government’s acknowledgment of the “vibrant and vital contributions of the Filipino Canadian community to the cultural, social and economic fabric of British Columbia.”
Reflecting on this year’s tragedy at the Lapulapu festival in April, the minister said, “It is important to acknowledge the profound grief and lasting impact the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy has had on the Filipino community and honour the memories of those lost.”
Kang added that the report reaffirms the province’s commitment to “ensuring that the proposed cultural centre is a space for the recognition and representation of Filipino culture for future generations.”
“This survey and report help ensure that we recognize Filipino Canadians’ impactful contributions to BC in a way that honours their needs and desires,” said Amna Shah, parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives, mental health and addictions.”
Shah noted the “collective goal of building a province that is more inclusive and representative.”
The report also cited Filipino BC’s own report Weaving Our Voices, Our Story of Our Community on the results of its own community engagement conducted between May 2023 and August 2024 on the need for a Filipino community centre. Filipino BC’s report supports similar conclusions relating to community interests and needs based on surveys, town halls, community engagement and consultations.
Both reports support and build on the work of Canadian Filipino Net’s Dr. Leonora (Nora) Angeles and the National Pilipino Canadian Cultural Centre Society in Keeping the Roots Alive: Building Community Through the National Pilipino Cultural Centre.
Canadian Filipino Mable Elmore, MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, noted that the “What We Heard report clearly shows the Filipino community’s dedication to the spirit of kapwa, to embrace our shared identity, as participants expressed their need for a cultural centre that fosters connection and feels like home.” Elmore expects that the project will “advance with the voices of the Filipino community leading the way.”
Mabuhay House Society chairperson Lester de Guzman said, “This report represents more than data; it reflects our dreams, our pride and our shared identity as Filipino Canadians. We commend the Province for its commitment to listening to our voices and making space for our stories.”
The What We Heard report affirms the provincial government’s commitment to “continue to collaborate with and learn from local Filipino Canadian organizations…and the next steps in the realization of a provincial Filipino cultural centre will be guided by these voices.”
Metro Vancouver is second to the Greater Toronto Area as having the largest Filipino population in Canada with significant communities in Surrey, Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby.
Maple Bamboo Network Society, publisher of CanadianFilipino.Net, wishes to thank United Way British Columbia (United Way BC) for providing a grant through its Kapwa Strong Fund to commission this journalism project called “Healing Through Kapwa: A Storytelling and Solidarity Series for the Filipino Community” following the unfortunate event that unfolded after the Lapu-Lapu street festival in Vancouver on April 26, 2025.
About the Author
Rachel Ramos-Reid started writing for magazines and newspapers when she was still a junior at the University of the Philippines’ Communication degree program majoring in Journalism. She continued to write in a public relations/corporate communications capacity in various private and government offices until moving out of the country in 1997 to work as Programme Officer for the arts and culture branch of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO-SPAFA) in Bangkok, Thailand. At the end of her term, Rachel found herself immigrating to Canada in the year 2000 and again searching for new beginnings.
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