Fresh from a successful diplomatic stint in Canada, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has revealed that another Canadian province has expressed intent to open its doors to more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the near future.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III shared that during his talk with his Canadian counterpart, he was also informed that British Columbia now wants to sign a new bilateral labor agreement with the Philippines to hire skilled Filipino workers.
2,000 Filipinos to Get Jobs in Canada Every Year
Upon signing, the agreement will be the second labor accord of British Columbia with the Philippines since it established a memorandum of understanding with the government back in 2008 for cooperation on Human Resources Development and Deployment, as shared in a report by the Philippine News Agency.
According to the Philippine labor secretary, the proposed bilateral labor agreement of the Canadian province will be similar to what they are currently working out with another Canadian territory – Yukon.
Last month, Secretary Bello III visited Yukon to sign a joint public agreement to formally start the bilateral talks for a government-to-government deployment arrangement through which they are looking to secure at least 2,000 job opportunities for skilled Filipino workers every year.
Bello shared that OFWs particularly in the medical field and technical occupations such as machine operators and engineers are widely in demand in the Canadian mining county.
“They will designate their technical working group and we will have our technical working group, and they will conduct the discussion on the preparation of a bilateral agreement which will also provide a contract template of employment,” Bello explained.
For his part, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard P. Olalia, in a text message, confirmed that they are targeting the completion of the bilateral agreement with Yukon by November as Bello had instructed.
Bello shared that they are now eyeing Canada as a prime destination for OFWs since most of its areas remain underpopulated and its migrant workers are treated well.
He pointed out that as per reports, the condition of OFWs in the country is safe and secure. Bello cited that there was not a single Filipino worker or OFW who gave a negative comment about their stay there. They all appear to be very prosperous.
True enough, many Filipinos are indeed eyeing to work in Canada, what with the supply of job opportunities there to be filled, and the growing community of Filipinos there, as well.
However, Bello pointed out that as the setup will be a government-to-government agreement, applicants can expect that there will be no placement fees in the hiring process, but must direct their searches through the POEA website only.
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