Why and How Canada Became Home to One Million Filipinos

Tuesday April 29, 2026 | 5:30-7 pm | C.K. Choi, 120 - Hybrid Event

Presented by the

This talk examines the history of Filipino migration in Canada and its entanglement with empire, colonialism, racism, and immigration policy logics behind Canada’s rise as an industrialized “ethnocratic settler state.” Tracing the historical roots of Filipinos’ over-representation in frontline services and manufacturing work, considered essential to the survival health and flourishing of Canadians, it connects the respective histories and political economies of the Philippines and Canada to explain the temporary and permanent migration logics shaping the history of Filipino migration to North America, amidst the rise of Canadian and American exceptionalisms and the racialization of Filipinos. It explains the policies and institutions shaping Filipino immigrant lives in Canada, how they entered the country, where they reside and work, and how labour and immigration policies shape their lived experiences. It argues for policy-savvy and history-informed understanding of the Philippines’ location within regional-international divisions of labor conditioning their Canadian migration and resettlement experiences.

This talk will also be the start of many future events that will revive the Philippine Studies Series at UBC within the near future. Stay tuned!

Dr. Leonora Angeles is a cross-appointed Professor at the UBC Institute of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice and School of Community and Regional Planning. She is also faculty research associate at the UBC Centre for Human Settlement.

IMPORTANT: Please select the appropriate ticket type when registering (in-person or virtual). Only select ONE ticket type for each person, not both.

We highly encourage in-person attendance but please only select in-person if you actually plan on attending in-person. This is so that we can plan the in-person component accordingly based on the estimated in-person headcount. The Zoom link will only be sent out to registrants who selected the virtual ticket upon registration.

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Host or Publisher The Center for Southeast Asia Research (CSEAR @ UBC)