05 October 2016 — Philippine Ambassador to Canada Petronila P. Garcia paid a courtesy call on the Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of the Province of Ontario on September 27 at the Queen’s Park, where the historic Legislative Building of Ontario and the vice regal residence of the Premier in the City of Toronto is situated.

Ambassador Garcia was accompanied by Consul General Rose Prospero of the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto, and Minister and Consul General Eric Gerardo E. Tamayo from the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa.

Ambassador Garcia and Premier Wynne discussed various issues concerning the growing Filipino community in the province and in furthering economic relations between the Philippines and Ontario.

Premier Wynne acknowledged the positive contribution of the Filipino community in Ontario as the presence of the community provides a good foundation for increased economic as well as educational connections. Premier Wynne welcomed the growing success of the Taste of Manila food festival in the city.

It was noted that Filipino students are increasingly looking to attend institutions of learning in the province given high ranking of several Ontario universities in recent rankings of global academic institutions.

The Premier expressed interest in pursuing concrete steps in expanding economic and trade relations. Meanwhile Ambassador Garcia drew attention to professional and skills recognition and other social challenges being encountered by Filipino nationals coming to Canada and by Filipino youth of newly-arrived migrant families.

Ambassador Garcia also met with the Hon. Tracy MacCharles, the very first Minister Responsible for Accessibility, and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues for the province.  Views were exchanged on the addressing the empowerment of women and providing for access support for persons with disabilities. Minister MacCharles highlighted the initiatives and efforts of the provincial government – working hand in hand with their counterparts at the federal government level of Canada covering the incidences of sexual violence, harassment against women, violence against indigenous people, wage and gender equality, increasing representation of women if boards and leadership positions.

Minister MacCharles informed that the government of Ontario is hosting several key activities in the sector including the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers (FPT) Responsible for the Status of Women as well as the National Aboriginal Women’s Summit.

In a meeting with the Hon. Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Growth, Ambassador Garcia highlighted the unprecedented economic growth of the Philippines in the past few years.  The Minister acknowledged the positive economic developments in the Philippines and that his team is very keen on promoting linkages between Philippine and Ontario enterprises to pursue various infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

Ontario is home to the biggest number of Filipinos among all other provinces in Canada. According to the last official statistics, Filipinos in Ontario number over 295,700 or 45% of the total 662,600 Filipino population across Canada.

Meanwhile, as of 2015, trade relations between the Philippines and Ontario accounted for 38% of all merchandise trade between the Philippines and Canada, which stood at CAD$1.7 billion for that year. Over the past five years, trade between the Philippines and Ontario had been averaging about CAD$637,600, with the trade balance in favor of the Philippines. END