MINISTER GUILBEAULT: FILIPINOS ARE VITAL TO CANADA

Source: Pinoy Festival 2025 - Burnaby

TORONTO--“The Filipino community,” according to Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Steven Guilbault, “is one of the fastest-growing populations (in Canada) … now representing nearly one million people.” More importantly, he added, it “has played a vital role in helping build a stronger and more vibrant Cana

da.”

Guilbault’s glowing statement about the rising importance of the role of the Filipino diaspora in Canada was issued today, June 1, as the country begins to celebrate Filipino Heritage Month.

“Filipino Canadians have made lasting contributions to this country’s vibrant history and continue to shape its future,” he said.

As members of the Filipino Canadian community excel in “diverse fields including health care, entrepreneurship, the arts, sport, science, finance, social justice and politics,” the minister said, they have made themselves “integral to our country.” 

Filipino Canadians “have played a key role in building the unified, inclusive society that, today, makes us so proud to be Canadian,” he added.

Lamenting the “horrific attack” at the Lapu-Lapu Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, on April 26, which left 11 people dead and several others injured, Guilbault said Canada shares in the Filipino community’s “sorrow and loss” and “stand in solidarity and hope (with them).”

“This senseless act of violence has deeply affected not only the Filipino community, but all Canadians,” he said. 

He encouraged everyone to take the Filipino Heritage Month of June as an opportunity “to learn more about the rich traditions and history of the Filipino-Canadian community” and expressed hopes it would “continue to be a symbol of unity, resilience and strength in the face of adversity.”

On May 20, 2021, the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario enacted Bill 217 as Chapter 15 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2021. Known as  Filipino Heritage Month Act, it proclaimed the month of June as Filipino Heritage Month.

According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census, 757,410 people reported being born in the Philippines and immigrating to Canada. This makes the Philippines “the third largest source country for immigration to Canada, following India (1.2 million) and China (830,980).”