31 July 2017 – Consul General Julius D. Torres of the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary led a Consulate team on an outreach mission to Hinton, Alberta from 29 to 30 July 2017, providing passport and other consular services to nearly 200 Filipinos in the town and surrounding areas.

The outreach mission, held at the Holiday Inn Hinton, was organized in cooperation with the Duterte Volunteers of Alberta headed by Mr. Benjamin Lindo, and the Hinton Filipino Community Association headed by its president Ms. Margie Batkin.

During the two-day outreach, the Consulate was able to process 174 passport applications, 10 notarial services, four civil registrations and four applications for reacquisition of Philippine citizenship.

Volunteers from the Duterte Volunteers and Hinton Filipino Community 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.

Hinton, a small town of about 9,900 residents, is about 500 km. northwest of Calgary.  The town’s businesses mainly cater to visitors going to Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper itself, 82 km east of Hinton.  Many Jasper-bound tourists stay in Hinton instead of Jasper because hotels in Jasper are almost always fully booked this time of the year.  Filipinos in Hinton work mostly as staff in the food service/accommodation sectors.