Bill to establish full consular office in Alberta, Canada Lawmakers have proposed the establishment of a full consular office in Alberta, Canada to service the burgeoning Filipino communities therein and in other neighboring provinces such as Saskatchewan. Reps . Luzv imind a C. lagan and !mmi A. "e #esus $%art& 'list, (abriela ), authors of *ous e +ill -/, said the Consulate (eneral 0ffice shall service the passport and consular need of Filipinos in Alberta, Saskatchewan and 1anitoba. Citing official data from the 23// 4ational *ousehold Surve&, lagan said there are 552,533 Filipinos in Canada in 2335'23// comprising /6./7 of new entrants &earl&. lagan said about 23,833 Filipinos are entering Canada ever& &ear, making them the fourth largest minorit& among the countr&9 s migrant population. lagan said Filipinos in Canada made up the third biggest contributor of dollar remittances in the countr&, ne:t to the 0verseas Filipino ;orkers $0F;) contribution from the <nited States $<S) and Saudi A rabia. n 23/2, the& remitted to the coun tr& over =2 billion. 0f the number of Filipinos in Canada, //6, 238 are in Alberta, the third largest concentration of Filipinos among Canada9s ten provinces and three territories. 1a>orit& of these Filipinos are women who entered Canada under the Live'in caregiver %rogram, lagan said. At present, lagan said the %hilippine Foreign Service posts are limited to the %hilippine embas s& in 0ttawa and the consulates in ?o ront o and @a ncou ver . For Filipino s in Alber ta and Saskatchewan, the nearest foreign service post is the %hilippine consulate in @a ncouver which serves appro:imatel& 283,333 Filipinos spread in ;estern Canada, including +ritish Columbia, the ukon and the 4orthwest ?e rritories. "e #esus said the %hilippine consulate office in @ancouver offers from time to time two outreach consular programs in !dmonton and Calgar& but their services are limited. B?he& offer onl& consular services, the& do not cover passport renewals and other relevant services on a regular basis, she added. B+ecause of the sheer distance of the service post in @ancouver, availing of its services, especiall& passport renewal is so costl& as to be prohibitive for most Filipinos in the far'flung territories. ?o renew their passports, Filipinos have to incu r trvel and hotel costs, "e #esus said. "e #esus said Filipinos also have to take a few da&s off from their work, losing a portion of their salaries. ?he lawmakers pointed out that the& could have avoided incurring absences in their work but the service post in @a ncouver does not open on weekends. Add to this the e:orbitant fees the& have to pa& for renewing or replacing lost passports. $63) lvc NR # 3594B SEPT. 19, 2014
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Bill to establish full consular office in Alberta, Canada
Lawmakers have proposed the establishment of a full consular office in Alberta, Canada toservice the burgeoning Filipino communities therein and in other neighboring provinces such asSaskatchewan.
Reps. Luzviminda C. lagan and !mmi A. "e #esus $%art&'list, (abriela), authors of *ouse+ill -/, said the Consulate (eneral 0ffice shall service the passport and consular need of Filipinosin Alberta, Saskatchewan and 1anitoba.
Citing official data from the 23// 4ational *ousehold Surve&, lagan said there are 552,533Filipinos in Canada in 2335'23// comprising /6./7 of new entrants &earl&.
lagan said about 23,833 Filipinos are entering Canada ever& &ear, making them the fourthlargest minorit& among the countr&9s migrant population.
lagan said Filipinos in Canada made up the third biggest contributor of dollar remittances inthe countr&, ne:t to the 0verseas Filipino ;orkers $0F;) contribution from the <nited States $<S)and Saudi Arabia. n 23/2, the& remitted to the countr& over =2 billion.
0f the number of Filipinos in Canada, //6, 238 are in Alberta, the third largest concentrationof Filipinos among Canada9s ten provinces and three territories. 1a>orit& of these Filipinos arewomen who entered Canada under the Live'in caregiver %rogram, lagan said.
At present, lagan said the %hilippine Foreign Service posts are limited to the %hilippineembass& in 0ttawa and the consulates in ?oronto and @ancouver. For Filipinos in Alberta andSaskatchewan, the nearest foreign service post is the %hilippine consulate in @ancouver which servesappro:imatel& 283,333 Filipinos spread in ;estern Canada, including +ritish Columbia, the ukonand the 4orthwest ?erritories.
"e #esus said the %hilippine consulate office in @ancouver offers from time to time twooutreach consular programs in !dmonton and Calgar& but their services are limited.
B?he& offer onl& consular services, the& do not cover passport renewals and other relevantservices on a regular basis, she added.
B+ecause of the sheer distance of the service post in @ancouver, availing of its services,especiall& passport renewal is so costl& as to be prohibitive for most Filipinos in the far'flungterritories. ?o renew their passports, Filipinos have to incur trvel and hotel costs, "e #esus said.
"e #esus said Filipinos also have to take a few da&s off from their work, losing a portion of their salaries.
?he lawmakers pointed out that the& could have avoided incurring absences in their work butthe service post in @ancouver does not open on weekends. Add to this the e:orbitant fees the& haveto pa& for renewing or replacing lost passports. $63) lvc
NR # 3594B
SEPT. 19, 2014
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