The least populated, northernmost province in North America even its own citizens dread to go has a per capita GDP of C$58,452 compared with C$3,439.28 for the entire Philippines.

Crispin R. Aranda

There would also be less Ilocanos leaving the province or the region since the high per capita reflects a good economy that translates into jobs, income, and a good quality of life.

Across the globe and closer to the North Pole, Nunavut is the newest, largest and northernmost province of Canada (North America). At the same time, it is both the least populous (31,906) and the largest in area of the provinces and territories of Canada at 1,750,000 sq. km. compared with the smaller 300,000 sq. km. of the Philippines.

In 2014, only 23 people migrated to Nunavut—a microscopic dot—given the fact that a total of 260,404 migrants applied for and obtained their permanent residency in Canada. In the same year 40,035 from the Philippines migrated to Canada, which placed the Philippines back on top of the list of countries with the highest number of immigrants.

Imperial Manila, Metro Manila or National Capital Region (as it is officially called), is the coveted place to be in the Philippines because it is the region of culture, economy, education, and government.

People from the North, South, and Central Philippines move to Metro Manila for jobs and opportunities making it the 7th most populous metropolis in Asia and the 3rd most populous urban area in the world, according to Demographia.

Canada set a target of up to 285,000 new permanent residents in 2015 to populate the country’s 10 provinces and three territories—Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Québec, Saskatchewan, and Yukon.

In January 2015, Canada initiated the Express Entry—the current selection system for attracting and getting immigrants. In addition to the individual allocation of each province by virtue of Federal and Provincial agreements, each province may also set up its own mini-Express Entry and get more than the usual number of migrants calling a province their new home.

Of the 285,000 planned and targeted new immigrants last year, 65 percent will be in the economic immigration class, the remainder will be in the family reunification and humanitarian categories, including refugees.

In addition Canada has increased “the number of caregivers becoming permanent residents to 30,000 in 2015, an all-time high in that category.”

Nomination programs common to all provinces

The migration statistics for the period indicated showed that without their own programs, applicants qualifying under the Federal immigration programs (Federal Skilled Workers, Federal Skilled Trades Workers, Canadian Experience Class, and International Student/Graduates) preferred the more urban places in Canada such as Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.

Alberta and British Columbia (BC) tweaked their nomination program to attract the entry level, semi -skilled in addition to the traditional skilled workers. Both provinces offer temporary to permanent migration pathways for those with the required years of experience in the tourism/hospitality, hotel and lodging, long-haul trucking, food and beverage processing, and manufacturing.

The oil price volatility in the world market and the Fort McMurray fire, however, contributed to the bleak employment scenario in Alberta. Statistics Canada reported on August 5, 2016 that “Alberta’s monthly unemployment rate climbed to its highest level in nearly 22 years in July, marking the first time the province has had a worse jobless rate than Nova Scotia.”

Calgary, the oil and gas capital of Canada, recorded an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent—the worst among 33 Canadian metropolitan areas surveyed. Another major Alberta city, Edmonton, showed an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent, the sixth highest in Canada.

Manitoba distinguishes itself from the other provinces by providing extra points and preference for applicants with close relatives in the province. Close relatives include siblings, niece or nephew, aunt/uncle (maternal or paternal), first cousin, parent or grandparent.

New Brunswick offers specific pathways for applicants with qualified family members (the applicant must to be a non-dependent child, brother, sister, niece, nephew, or grandchild of the Family Supporter in New Brunswick). Your Family Supporter would also be able to provide you with on-the-ground facts about career and employment prospects, especially with the report of the Conference Board of Canada that New Brunswick is likely to join Alberta in recession this year (published by CBC New Brunswick, June 13, 2016).

Perhaps the province with the least expectation of economic recovery, Newfoundland-Labrador, the easternmost province of Canada, has had short booms and long-term busts, especially in the oil exploration and mining sectors. With the drop in oil prices and the shutting down of Labrador’s key iron mines in 2014, jobs were hard to find, even as the provincial government found itself in deficit. Maybe that was the reason why Newfoundland is one of the few provinces charging a $250 non-refundable fee for Express Entry and provincial nominee applicants.

Bright spots west and middle of Canada

Past halfway of 2016 reveals only a few Canadian provinces have improved in economic performance, with Manitoba and British Columbia leading the way.

Manitoba distinguishes itself from the other provinces by providing extra points and preference for applicants with close relatives in the province.

A July 2016 report by the Conference Board of Canada, noted, “Manitoba’s GDP is set to expand by 2. 1 per cent this year and 2.6 per cent in 2017, which would allow the province to be a reliable source of growth … due to strong employment and wage gains in recent years.”

The Manitoba government banks on its rich natural resources and fertile farmland for a sustained positive economic performance. Manitoba is not dependent on any single industry or commodity, although manufacturing is Manitoba’s largest sector accounting for over 12 percent of total GDP. Manitoba is home to Canada’s largest factories for furniture, doors, windows, and cabinetry. The province is also North America’s largest producer of intercity and urban buses.

In addition, large service operations, including two of Canada’s major financial corporations—Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial—and one of the country’s largest media companies—CanWest Global Communications Corp.—have established corporate presence in Manitoba.

On the other hand, British Columbia, brims with confidence. The provincial government reports that “all signs point to British Columba holding on to the top spot in the provincial growth rankings in 2016.”

Citing the latest economic data published last June, yhr Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) noted that impressive job market statistic showed “the solid momentum … in 2014 and 2015” will carry over this year.

Domestic spending of BC households will lead economic growth with expected renewed “substantial activity in the retail, services, and housing sectors. Exports are expected to be a key driver of BC‘s forecasted growth rate of 2.3 percent in 2017.

RBC concluded that “with healthy job market conditions, confident households, and strengthening population growth (fueled by positive in-migration), British Columbia stands to benefit from skilled migration and vice versa.

Processing of provincial nomination applications and subsequent permanent resident applications at the Canadian Embassy in Manila could take 1 to 2 years.

If the oil price market remains unstable and terrorism continues to plague Europe and disrupts economic activity, resulting in national sentiments against migrants, the provincial migration to global Canadian cities might be focused only on British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, provinces which have shown to have the most pull factors for migrants—Filipino city dwellers and provincial migrants included.

For the rest of us the reverse migration begins if and when Federalism begins and the killings stop.

This story was originally published by The Manila Times, Philippines

Will a Duterte administration change the migration pattern of Filipinos searching for a level playing field and a better life?

IF career criminals are stopped dead on their tracks, literally or otherwise—not just petty thieves, drug lords instead of drug users, criminal coddlers as opposed to only small-time hoods, plunderers and not just frontline government bribe takers;

CRISPIN R. ARANDA

If Filipino workers and professionals are adequately paid, allowed to regain productivity at work instead of wasting billions in traffic—then, there is hope that the 6,000-plus leaving daily to find overseas opportunities will decrease.

From the time export of manpower was devised as a safety valve against unemployment and lack of opportunities at home which, in turn, were fumes fueling social upheaval during and after the Ferdinand Marcos years, Filipinos have moved in increasing numbers to foreign shores in search of a better quality of life for at least those who have a life to live.

To a significant number, those who have less in life and even less in law, migrating simply becomes a means to survive.

Which countries offer a better quality of life than what Filipinos have endured before and after martial law?

To a layperson, Numbeo provides an easy comparison. Of course, Numbeo statistics are user-generated (just like Waze, the digital traffic navigator is) but to most, the statistics become eye-openers.

Numbeo explains that its “Quality of Life Index (higher is better) is an estimation of overall quality of life by using empirical formula, which takes into account purchasing power index (higher is better), pollution index (lower is better), house-price-to-income ratio (lower is better), cost of living index (lower is better), safety index (higher is better), health care index (higher is better), traffic commute time index (lower is better) and climate index (higher is better).”

For lack of formatting capability, the column titles of the accompanying table are described, so our readers can match the column with the matching numbers.

From the left, the first of 11 columns represents the Ranking, followed by the City, Qualify of Life, Purchasing Power, Safety, Health Care, and Cost of Living, Property-Price-to-Income Ratio, Traffic Commute, Pollution and Climate indices.

The quality of life is a prime consideration for Filipinos seeking permanent residency not just for themselves but, principally, for their children whom they would want to be spared from what appears to be an intractable trajectory to perpetual poverty.

Host-cities with the most number of Filipino permanent and temporary residents

Where have Filipinos settled in search of better quality of life?
North America had been leading the favorite countries of choice for permanent residency. The five countries with permanent migration programs are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

It could be argued that the “special ties” between the Philippines and the United States, firmly entrenched by the establishment of a government, laws and education patterned after the US of A, allowed the Philippine kite to fly as far and high as the colonial power allowed it to.

The tie was gradually loosened, especially after the 50 years of Hollywood had run roughshod over the 400 years under Spain; when English became the language of business and education; and rock and roll, then rap, unplugged the kundiman from the musical charts.

Because the US and the subsequent countries of migrant destinations are driven by national interests, migration laws opened and closed as the economic and political situations require.

Mass migration to the US in the 19th century was a result of an earlier exodus of Europeans, separatist Puritans fleeing religious persecution from the Church of England, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock from which the United States was built.

Filipinos, on the other hand, came to know the post-Puritan Americans as replacement masters for the Spanish conquistadores: admirals and generals who snatched the victory from the Katipunan and declared the country its launching pad for Westernization of Asia.

At the time, America had a boundless need for people to man the frontier, build the tracks, protect boundaries as they are created by expansionism, get more people to populate the United States using the new entrants like canaries in a mine allowing America to “safely” search and expropriate gold, minerals, and whatever the US needed to satisfy its expansionary quest.

As inhabitants of a US territory, the Filipinos were regarded as US nationals until the creation of the Philippine commonwealth. Filipinos then could legally go to the US without a need for visas. In fact, they were already in the US without the four seasons.

The Federal government, meantime, started to craft laws defining who could come to America. The teeming masses had to be winnowed: convicts and prostitutes were the first to be barred by the Act of Aug. 3, 1882, allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a tax of 50 cents per immigrant.

1882 also witnessed the creation of the US quota based on national origin—the Chinese Exclusion Act (which prohibited the import of contractual foreign labor) repealed only in 1943.

To strengthen its foothold in its new Asian territory, the United States created the Commonwealth of the Philippines. From 1935 to 1946, this administrative body laid down the foundation for a Philippine Republic and its “independence.” It was during this period that scions of the Philippine elite were sent to the US as student pensionados, to learn the ABCs of USA governance.

After the grant of “independence” on July 4, 1946, Filipinos were only able to go to the US by obtaining the appropriate temporary and permanent resident visas. July 4 of every year is now celebrated as Filipino-American Friendship Day after Independence Day had been reinstated to June 12, a belated and begrudging admission that the Philippines had declared itself freed from the Spanish colonial masters.

With the arrival of information superhighway, Filipinos got caught in the web of migration, discovering other destinations from actual and digital testimonials of those who have set foot and taken residency in other shores.

Canada emerged as a viable and attractive destination, given its proximity to the United States. The Commonwealth states, including the former colonial power—United Kingdom of Great Britain—showed up in the migration horizon.

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Stock Estimate of Overseas Filipinos shows the number of kababayan (with temporary or permanent residency) in the leading countries of migration as of Dec. 2012:

The tables show that while Australia is only the fifth country with the most number of Filipino permanent residents, Canberra and Sydney are on the top of cities with the best quality of life index.

On the other hand, despite having a low quality of life index (and the sorry state of human rights in the country), Saudi Arabia is second only to the United States as the top destination for Filipinos. It should be explained that those in the KSA are mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), whose main reason for being there is the need for employment and better wages.

The same is true with the rest of five of the 10 country-destinations: United Arab Emirates, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, which all host mostly OFWs. In fact, OFWs in Saudi Arabia could be permanent temporary workers in the Middle East without the ability to obtain lawful permanent residency and citizenship pathways.

Vancouver and Toronto, despite being 23rd and 39th in the Quality of Life Index, are home to a significant number of Filipinos in Canada—which, in turn, is second only to the US in terms of the numbers of lawful permanent residents.

Oh, Davao beats Manila as the better city to live in if quality of life is to be the basis for migration.

In fact, migration to Davao has started, with the daily procession of government officials (turncoats mostly) and the business community seeking audience with and blessing of President Rody Duterte—magnates, taipans and lackeys of foreigners owning public utility companies in the Philippines despite Constitutional ban.

The Duterte administration could then be good for domestic migration, but bad for airlines that would be losing Filipino passengers bound for work or permanent residency destinations.

Amazing, indeed, how migration could be measured by a ruler’s political will.

This story was originally published by The Manila Times, Philippines