By the 2021 census, Filipino Canadians enumerated 957,355, or 2.58% of the total population, further displaying the community's rapid growth.
[2] Filipino migration to North America began with Philippine-made ships crossing the Pacific Ocean during the Manila galleon trade.
As early as 1565, Spain began sending vessels northeast from the Philippines, riding the Kuroshio Current in a sweeping circular route across the northern part of the Pacific.
By late 1700s, "Manila men"[3] were recruited in naval operations, aboard the ship San Carlos el Filipino sent to support the short-lived Spanish settlement of Santa Cruz de Nuca and Fort San Miguel, Nootka Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island.
[4] Canada's earliest documented Filipinos coincided with North America's first wave of Asian immigration in the 1800s.
At least nine male Filipino sailors, aged twenty-four to forty-two, appeared on the 1881 census of British Columbia.
Several others worked as loggers, millhand, mine labourers, and longshoremen intermarrying with Indigenous peoples and other Pacific Islanders.
By the turn of the century, there was a significant number of Filipinos; they were either naturalized as Canadians or were U.S. nationals in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia.
It was reported that the Average Employment Income for Filipino Canadians was $41,280 which was significantly lower compared to those who are not a visible ethnic minority ($52,550) and the total population ($50,280).
[13][14] Filipino Canadians were largely more educated but had a significantly lower rate of attaining a Graduate degree then other ethnic groups.
[15] Despite representing a large immigration group, there have been only two Filipino-Canadians elected as federal members of parliament: Rey Pagtakhan (1988) and Rechie Valdez (2021).
[17] The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which includes the city of Toronto, and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York, is home to the largest Filipino community in Canada with a third of all Filipino Canadians calling the GTA home.
As of the 2016 Census, there were 282,385 people of Filipino descent living in the GTA making them the fourth largest visible minority group behind the Indian, Chinese, and Black communities.
In 2017, Seafood City, a Filipino-owned supermarket chain in the United States, opened its first Canadian location in Mississauga.
Ilocano ranked in the top 10 non-English mother tongue languages in three neighbourhoods (Briar Hill-Belgravia, Englemount-Lawrence, Clanton Park).
Some Filipino families have migrated into more affluent pockets like Peel Village around Bartley Bull Parkway.
Several others are business owners, with some bringing well-known franchise chains like Pepper Lunch and Chatime to the city.
Jollibee, a well known global Filipino fast food chain, has its first 2 Canadian locations established in this city.
Outside of Calgary, some smaller communities are experiencing an influx of Filipino immigrants to fill job vacancies.
Various Filipino associations celebrate the culture and take part in large metropolitan events such as the Edmonton Heritage Festival.
In 2002, the Filipino community presented its home nation as the "Featured Country" during Capital Ex (formerly Klondike Days).
Hamilton is home to the first Filipino community centre and school in Canada both opening in the early 80s and late 70s, respectively.
Niagara-on-the-lake is home to a very successful community and the only town to have had a Filipino mayor in Canada, Arturo Viola.
Most Filipinos who immigrate to Canada settle in the large urban areas where there are more jobs and a vibrant community life.
According to Statistics Canada seeing the current trend, by 2031, the Filipino Canadian population is projected to reach between 1.9 and 2.1 million.
Notably, Canada now has a Filipino population more than twice as large percentage-wise as that of the United States, the Philippines' former colonizer.
Notable residents include Tobias Enverga, the first Canadian of Filipino descent elected in the City of Toronto and appointed to the Senate of Canada, Brampton City Councillor Rowena Santos, Town of Ajax Ward 3 Councillor Lisa Bower, TCDSB trustee Garry Tanuan, and Mississauga-Streetsville MP Rechie Valdez.