[Greco Roman]

Manitoba mabuhayFamily main reason why Filipinos coming
By PAUL TURENNE, SUN MEDIA





Winnipeg is a mabuhay (welcome) place for Filipinos who are moving here in quickly increasing numbers.

Statistics Canada data released yesterday, based on last year's census, shows 6,885 people born in the Philippines moved to Winnipeg between 2001 and 2005, representing 28.5% of the city's immigration over that period.

That was more than double the number of Filipinos who moved to Winnipeg in the previous five years, and more than triple the number of people who came from India, which set the second-highest number of immigrants to Winnipeg.

Philippine-born people now make up more than 20% of Winnipeg's total immigrant population, according to the census.

"There is a stable base of family members here. I suppose word has reached some Filipinos (back home) that Filipinos in Winnipeg are friendly and cohesive and welcoming," said Rosalinda Natividad Cantiveros, president of the Philippine-Canadian Centre of Manitoba, who herself immigrated here from the Philippines in 1974.


Cantiveros said many Filipinos come here for family reasons -- either because they have family members who live here or have children and see Manitoba as a good place to raise their family.

HIGHEST RATIO

Another interesting aspect of the census data was that 19.8% of Canada's population was born in another country, which is the highest ratio since 1931, when it was 22.2%.

Lori Wilkinson, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Manitoba, said that's not unexpected.

"We've seen the number of immigrants in the country increase in the past 10 years," she said, noting about 250,000 people immigrate to Canada annually now, while only about 200,000 per year came in the early 1990s.

Wilkinson said although immigration numbers are unlikely to go down, it's difficult to predict future trends when it comes to source countries because immigration depends not only on federal and provincial government policy, but also on the conditions abroad.

"If the economy is bad, people are going to look for work elsewhere," she said, noting wars also make refugee numbers highly variable from year to year.

In all, Manitoba welcomed 31,200 immigrants from 2001 to 2006, about 2.8% of the country's total.

More than 13% of Manitoba's population was born outside Canada, the fourth-highest ratio among the provinces.

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TOP COUNTRIES

Top 10 source countries for immigrants to Winnipeg, 2001-2006 (with country, number of immigrants and percentage of total immigration listed)

1) Philippines 6,885 28.5

2) India 2,065 8.6

3) China 1,375 5.7

4) Ukraine 960 4.0

5) Ethiopia 870 3.6

6) South Korea 800 3.3

7) U.S.A. 740 3.1

8) Sierra Leone 615 2.5

9) Pakistan 570 2.4

10) Afghanistan 530 2.2

-- Source: Stats Canada