The Canadian government forecasts that there will be one million Filipino immigrants in Canada by 2025, marking a 50 per cent increase from today. If immigration to Canada is a horse race between competing nations, China, India, the Philippines and Pakistan have the inside track, with Filipinos being the current “favourites.” New Canadian Media decided to partner with the Asian Pacific Post (APP) – Filipino Post to go behind the numbers and see how newcomer Filipinos are doing. We also spoke to three academic researchers who study migration from the Philippines to understand this movement of people and what it means for Canada. Please click on the plus (+) signs to read comments by the researchers. Our main finding based on a few random interviews: While most Filipino immigrants have stayed and embraced Canada as their new home, some of them have gone back to practice their professions. The Philippines was the #1 source country for immigrants to Canada in 2010 and 2011, but by 2012 it had fallen back to second place behind China. There are two reasons for the recent prominence of the Philippines. One is that the numbers arriving in the Live-In Caregiver category spiked quite dramatically around 2010 — reflecting an expansion in demand for the program around 2007-2008 (caregivers have to spend two years as temporary foreign workers before they can apply for PR [Permanent Resident] status, hence the time lag).The other reason is that the Provincial Nominee Program has expanded hugely in recent years, mainly in Western Canada. This has been a major channel for new arrivals from the Philippines, especially to Manitoba, which has a very large Filipino community. The other factor that might be added is that language and educational requirements have been increased, which would favour applicants from countries such as the Philippines, where English is widely spoken and tertiary education is geared towards the needs of the global labour market. That said, the expansion in Filipino migration hasn’t been in the federal skilled worker category, where such factors are most important, so it’s probably not the most significant explanation. – Dr. Philip Kelly, Director, York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), Professor, Department of Geography, York University This reverse migration is no different from trends for other nationalities, reported by StatsCan as far back as 2006. Philippine dentist Mike Muin was a university dentist in the southern Philippines when he applied for a family immigrant visa. His family landed in Ontario as immigrants in 2013, but Mike’s credentials as a dentist were not recognized in Ontario unless he took a Dental Challenge Exam. For a year, he never practised dentistry and so he decided to fly back to the Philippines with their youngest son. According to Mike, he is happy working as an associate dentist in a Philippine city. Muin told NCM-APP that he is still in a quandary whether or not to return to Ontario, where his wife, Rose, and their eldest son still reside. Rose says that for her the Philippines is still an ideal place to raise her children because parents have more time to monitor their children as they grow up. “If I were to choose between Canada and Philippines, I would still choose the Philippines to raise my children where families can spend more time together,” Rose said. In another case, an assistant professor from the Philippines, who requested anonymity, saw Canada as a potential place for a social sciences academic. He landed as an immigrant in Vancouver in October 2011 and submitted his credentials to the University of British Columbia, Douglas College, Vancouver Community College and Simon Fraser University. Not one of the schools recognized his credentials. He was advised to take bridging courses. The graduate school professor ended up as a labourer for two months in a logistics company on Annacis Island. Philippines is quite complex to compare with China and India. India has historical ties with Canada as a former British colony. China is also different as it has historical roots with racialized labour prior to the institution of the points system. Philippines is a postwar (WWII) immigrant source nation for Canada, but has historical ties to US as a former colony. Restrictions faced by those initially planning to go to the US find immigration streams to Canada favourable at some point. Chain migration is also a feature of Filipino permanent migration in Canada. As well, Filipinos are family-oriented and sponsor family members when they can to the country.