27 June 2017 – Consul General Julius D. Torres led a Consulate team on an outreach mission to High River, Alberta on 25 June 2017, providing passport and notarial services to more than 100 Filipinos in the town and surrounding areas.

The one-day outreach mission, held at the Super 8 High River hotel from 9:00AM to 5:30PM, was organized by the Consulate in cooperation with the Filipino Canadian High River Association, led by its President, Mr. Ryan Zabala.  During the outreach, the Consulate was able to render 122 consular services comprised of 113 passport renewals, seven notarial services and two civil registrations.

Volunteers from the Filipino Canadian High River Association assisted the Consulate team in the outreach mission by finding the appropriate venue for the outreach and publicizing the outreach mission through their community organizations and social circles.  They also acted as ushers during the outreach mission and ensured the orderly flow of people at the venue.

High River is about 60 km. south of Calgary.  Most of the Filipinos in the area work at the meat processing and packing plant of Cargill Foods, one of Canada’s largest livestock processing companies.  Cargill’s High River plant employs 2,500 people, of which around 75% are Filipino temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and permanent residents.  The Consulate undertook the outreach mission in response to a request from these Filipino workers and their families for consular services as they only have Sundays free and would not have been able to travel to Calgary during weekdays despite the relatively short distance