Burnaby, B.C.
Funeral on January 25, 2025
Teodoro ‘Ted’ Alcuitas
Editor, philippinecanadiannews.com
A bright light in the Filipino Canadian community has been extinguished with the recent death of Alden E. Habacon, an acknowledged diversity and inclusion expert.
The 50-year-old father of three died in Hawaii on Dec. 2, 2024 according to reports. His family described his death as an “unexpected and unfortunate accident”.
The son of Filipino immigrants, Alden came to Canada at the age of two to join his parents Ricardo and Marilou in Winnipeg. Like most immigrants, he was left as an infant with his grandmother in Tondo, when his parents left for Canada in 1975. He joined them the following year and the family stayed in Winnipeg until 1980 when they moved to Edmonton, Alberta and then to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1986 where Alden spent his early teen years graduating as validectorian at Campbell High School.
In 1991, the family moved to Burnaby B.C. where he found attending high school in B.C. was different from high school in the Prairies – the ethnic diversity would be one of the catalysts that changed his life. He joined the Army Reserves at the age of 17 and would later go on to Ryerson University in Toronto to study graphic arts, which was also the beginning of his grunge music stage.
He attended Simon Fraser University where he completed his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts (B.F.A.)Visual Arts in 2002. Working briefly with the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop as Editor of Rice Paper, he launched his own magazine Schema, in 2004 focusing on celebrating the differences between cultures & communities.
He was generous with his time and talent joining boards in the community like SUCCESS and the Vancouver Art Gallery including the Filipino community organization – NPC3 (National Pilipino Community Cultural Centre) whose goal is to establish a national Pilipino cultural centre.
He was hired by the CBC in 2004 to lead their diversity initiatives, managing the national diversity and inclusion portfolio for the CBC Television Network, and coordinating the implementation of over 300 diversity initiatives across the country. From CBC, he moved on to the University of British Columbia in 2010 as Director, Intercultural Understanding Strategy Development for the University of British Columbia. He led the development and implementation of UBC’s commitment to intercultural understanding.
Realizing a lifetime dream, he formed his own business and founded Inclusive Excellence Strategy Solutions (IESS) in 2019, a consulting company that worked with governments, institutions, schools, universities, charities and other organizations. His client list included small businesses to national corporations and governments including the City of Vancouver and the B.C. Government. He would gave out 30 public presentations per month on inequity, diversity and inclusion according to colleagues who worked with him at Inclusive Excellence Strategy Solutions (IESS) and was recognized with numerous awards.
Tributes pour in after his death
“He was one of the incredible advocates of the idea that we’re better together … that representation matters and that representation gives us a sense of who we are as Canadians,” Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, told CBC.
“We in NPC3 are very mournful of his untimely demise, especially at the prime of his life, his career, and fatherhood responsibilities. Our sadness is beyond words. We are still struggling to find the courage and strength to continue the legacy of cultural arts development he left behind. We deeply convey our condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and the many institutions and organizations he has served over three decades. We will always miss you, Alden,” wrote Leonora Angeles of the National Pilipino Community Cultural Centre (NPC3) where Alden served as Vice-President.
In a moving obituary, his family left this message:
“Many tears have been shed, but he would want everyone to see that the sun will rise once again, like that morning at the top of Haleakala where he proposed to Rose. He would want us to feel the warmth of the light & beauty that this world has in store for all of us. Imagine a shared space for all of us. Imagine a better world. Imagine the possibilities. Just imagine. We all miss you, Alden. We love you, and we will see you again.”
A family friend has created a GoFundMe page to benefit Habacon’s wife, Rose, and their three children, Aiden, Rei, and Rylen.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memorial-of-alden-habacon

A Visitation will be held on Thursday, January 23rd from 7:30pm -9:30pm at Forest Lawn Funeral Home; 3789 Royal Oak Avenue, Burnaby, BC. A Funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 25th at 1:00pm at Forest Lawn Chapel, Burnaby, BC. A live web feed will be available of all of his out-of-town friends and overseas family here: https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/101778