Victoria Santos - Overview

My mother, Victoria Santos, was born in the Philippines in 1956, a time in which the country was recovering from World War II and in need of economic reform. In the 1950’s to 1960’s, three different presidents governed the country. Their views on improving the economic situation ranged from a nationalist perspective to emphasis on foreign policy. Further, with a growing population, the number of available jobs could not keep up with the Filipinos who were ready to work estimated at 700,000 every year.

After completing school within the health services field, my mother found herself in the same situation as many of her Filipino peers. The decision my mother faced was to either take up a job in an unrelated field in the Philippines or to immigrate to Canada to seek out a “better life”.

Until the late 1900’s, Filipino immigration to Canada was relatively non-existent. After Canada began to encourage immigration to fill their employment needs, the option of moving to Canada seemed to be a good choice. The Live-In Caregiver program was also another appealing reason many Filipinos chose to immigrate to Canada.

In 1982 my mother and father selected Vancouver, Canada as the location for their “better life”. With a growing Filipino community they thought it would be a good choice. Today, there are almost 100,000 Filipinos who call Vancouver home.