Calgary, 17 March 2023 – Philippine Consul General to Calgary Zaldy Patron and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith discussed various areas of cooperation during their meeting today at the McDougall Centre, the provincial government’s office in Calgary.

Consul General Patron thanked Premier Smith for the CAD7.8 million bursary program that the Alberta Government announced on 13 February 2023 for the internationally educated nurses (IEN) in fulfillment of the Philippines-Alberta MOU on the Recruitment of Filipino Nurses which was signed on 6 October 2022.

Each Filipino IEN can now receive as much as CAD30,000 in financial grant from the Alberta Government to pay for the assessment and testing fees and the tuition for the nursing bridging program that they need to take to gain recognition of the nursing credentials they earned from the Philippines.

On 8 March 2023, the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Calgary and the Ministry of Advanced Education jointly hosted a virtual briefing to inform the Filipino IEN about the details of the financial grant program.

Consul General Patron updated Premier Smith about the status of the Graduate Scholarship Program that the PCG had helped establish between the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the University of Alberta. There are now seven DOST scholars studying in the University of Alberta under this program.

Likewise, he sought Premier Smith’s support for the 2nd Filipino Restaurant Month in Canada (FRMC) that will take place next month. At least thirteen (13) Filipino-owned restaurants in Alberta are participating in the FRMC this year.

Consul General Patron also raised with Premier Smith some proposals to assist the Filipino internationally educated teachers in the province.

Lastly, Consul General Patron expressed to Premier Smith the Philippines’ interest to explore energy cooperation with Alberta.