24 October 2016 – Consul General Julius D. Torres of the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary met with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and provincial Minister of Economic Development and Trade Deron Bilous on 19 October 2016 at a roundtable meeting between the Premier and the Consuls General resident in Calgary held at the McDougall Centre.

Consul General Torres informed Premier Notley that the reason the Philippine government decided to open a Consulate in Calgary was not only to serve the growing number of Filipino nationals in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but also as a show of confidence in the ongoing recovery of Alberta following the recent economic downturn. He also reiterated his invitation for Alberta to open a Trade Representative Office in Manila, similar to that opened by British Columbia (BC) last March, to promote greater Philippines-Alberta trade cooperation.

Filipinos are the largest growing population demographic in the province. There are around 120,000 Filipino nationals in Alberta, including around 50,000 Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs).  Most of these Filipino TFWs work in the service sector (hotels & restaurants, health care) and many others are skilled workers in the province’s industrial sector (oil & gas, manufacturing).