02 May 2017 – Consul General Julius D. Torres led a Consulate team on a special outreach mission to Edmonton, Alberta from 28 to 30 April 2017, providing passport and notarial services to more than 300 Filipinos in the city and surrounding areas.

 

The special outreach, held at the Ramada Edmonton South, was organized in cooperation with the Duterte Volunteers of Edmonton headed by Mr. Benjamin Lindo to serve Filipinos who were unable to book for appointments at the Consulate’s outreach mission held at the same city the week before.

 

During the three-day special outreach, the Consulate was able to render 329 consular services comprised of 301 passport applications, 22 notarial services, two civil registrations and four applications for dual citizenship.  One person who had submitted her dual citizenship application took the Oath of Allegiance during the special outreach mission.

 

The Consulate team was also able to register ­­­­68 overseas voters at the special outreach.

 

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta and the province’s second-largest city, is the gateway to Alberta’s oilsands region in the north.  Most of the Filipinos there were historically employed as skilled workers by energy companies that operate in the area, although the current economic downturn has led to retrenchments.  Those formerly employed in the energy sector have either remained unemployed and are searching for work or have begun working in other fields.  Many other Filipinos are employed in the services sector as health care workers, restaurant staff and hotel workers