On April 22, the Scalabrini Migration Center (SMC), Dalhousie University, and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) co-organized a panel presentation entitled “Canada Dreaming: Policies and Pathways in the Philippines-Canada Migration Corridor.” The presentations are from a project exploring the Philippines to Canada labor markets and the aspirations and experiences of workers (in the Philippines and in Canada) caught in the middle.

Dr. Pauline Gardiner Barber (Dalhousie University), principal investigator of the project, gave a brief video message to welcome the audience.

The panel had three presentations:

Dr. Clarence M. Batan (UST) discussed key findings from the Philippine study on the conceptual understanding of migration to Canada and the employment and mobility issues faced by Filipino youth aspiring to work in Canada as temporary workers.

Dr. Catherine Bryan (Dalhousie University) talked about Canada’s migration policies, and how these policies reflect the state’s interests intersecting with capital and the challenging realities for many Filipinos working in a selected coffee shop chain in Canada.

Dr. Marla Asis (SMC) discussed developments in the Philippines-Canada migration corridor and the impact these have on migration governance in the Philippines.

An open forum was held after the presentations, and Dr. Jorge Tigno (University of the Philippines [UP]) gave the closing remarks.

The event was attended by partners and colleagues from the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), De La Salle University (DLSU), Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Philippine Migration Research Network (PMRN), Stella Maris Manila, UP and UST.

Addendum: The full recording of the event can be found here: https://youtu.be/bpuKGvUprI8