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Overseas voting for the Philippine national elections in Canada is not quite in full swing. Although the official start of overseas voting according to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) started on April 10, the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa reports that as of Monday, April 11, it has not yet received ballots from the COMELEC headquarters in the Philippines.

The Canadian Filipino Net is proud to launch its renewed website with a fresh look, easier to navigate, and more user-friendly digital platform. 

Canadian Filipino artist Ovvian Castrillo-Hill recently received a grant from the Telus Storyhive 2021 Voices program which will enable her to produce a documentary series, Ex-Situ: Thriving in Our New Bayan, about fellow kababayans in British Columbia’s Peace Region.

As part of the National Children’s Week in January, the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto launched Children’s Corner on its official website.

(Editor' Note: at the end of each year, CFNet reviews all the articles it has published and selects for its yearend review articles that were the most read, most liked or had the most impact.)

“There are many Filipinos in Canada who completed nursing degrees in the Philippines and had years of nursing experience but who are working as home caregivers or nursing aides here.  They are not practicing the professions they were trained to do.

Two Canadian Filipinos are among those presented with this year’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards. Edmonton-based arts administrator Ida Beltran-Lucila and registered nurse Edsel Mutia from Toronto joined 23 other immigrants recognized for their contributions to the Canadian economy and society.

After combing through the Censuses of Canada as early as 1825 until 1921, and perusing archives, directories and all sources mentioned earlier,

A photo exhibit created, researched, participated in and maintained by a group of Filipina nurses and health care workers opened at Toronto’s A Space Gallery Windows and runs until January 29, 2022.

The Census of Canada has been conducted at ten-year intervals since 1851.  On the third census, the 1881 census was the first to include the western provinces and territories and the first to show the presence of people from the Philippines. This census did not indicate year of immigration, only residency which could mean just being present in an area when the census was taken. 

Nootka Sound in the 1700s was a rugged remote international port – a major source of sea otter pelts valued as fur in China and Japan.  Hence, Russian, American, and English ships called upon there with some frequency.

 If you look at history books and online sources as recent as 2019, all of them will say that the first Filipino immigrants in Canada arrived in the 1930s, mostly settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba. So I left it at that.