Updated: Apil 2, 2022, 7:45 A.M.
Yukon
Makes it easier to immigrate to Yukon
Charmaine Janis Rodriguez
The Philippine Government and the Territory of Yukon in Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help Filipinos immigrate to the Yukon under the Canadian territory’s Yukon Nominee Program (YNP).
In a hybrid ceremony participated in by Philippine Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Yukon Minister for Economic Development Ranj Pillai, the MOU on the Employment and Protection of Filipinos under the YNP was signed last March 18 while each of them were at the Philippine Consulate General in New York and the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver, respectively, according to a press release by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
During the signing ceremony, Mr. Allan Coo, Philippine Airlines (PAL) Country Manager in Canada, and, Mr. Dennis Parry, Air North Director of Agency, Packaged Products & Sales Distribution, also announced that there will be a seamless connection between Yukon and destinations in the Philippines and beyond, allowing travelers to purchase a single ticket to fly between Whitehorse in Yukon and Manila.
“It’s going to make it easier for us to come to the Yukon while reducing the cost to employers,” said Aurora Viernes, president of the Canadian Filipino Association of the Yukon in a cbc.com report.
The YNP allows employers in Yukon to hire foreign workers for the long-term if they could not find qualified Canadians or permanent residents to bridge the unemployment gap.
Yukon currently has an employment rate of 69.6% and an unemployment rate of only 4.5%, according to its Bureau of Statistics.
In February 2022, Yukon’s participation rate (72.9%) was the third highest in Canada. The Northwest Territories had the highest participation rate in Canada (77.4%). The participation rate measures the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over, which is working or actively looking for work.
The MOU gets rid of the fees applied by the Philippines to YNP applicants and creates a joint committee for the two governments to cooperate on labour mobility and the YNP.
Filipinos make up the largest immigrant group in the Yukon, according to the 2016 Census. Of the 4,410 immigrants living in the Yukon, 926 or 21 per cent are Filipinos. They also form the largest visible minority group in the territory, accounting for 39.7 per cent of those who identify as being part of a visible minority, the cbc.com report also added.
Pillai said the MOU will reduce the red tape businesses in the territory face to access the program.
According to the Yukon government, the Philippines is the single largest country of origin for YNP applicants.
Viernes said the MOU and the travel agreement will help address some of the labour shortage in the Yukon while making it easier for Filipinos to travel back and forth.
The MOU is pursuant to the Joint Communique signed by both ministers in Yukon in August 2019 and “aims to facilitate and ensure the protection of the rights and promotion of the welfare of Filipino workers who will be deployed to Yukon under the YNP,” the DFA said.