Deal signed to deploy more OFWs to Canada

A new agreement to facilitate the deployment of more Filipino workers and protect their welfare has been forged between the Philippine government and British Columbia, Canada.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Concerning Cooperation in Human Resource Deployment and Development was witnessed by President Aquino and British Columbia Premier Christy Clark on the last day of the

three-day state visit to Canada.

“Around 136,000 Filipinos reside in this province, and I can say that Premier Clark is a partner of our people. Proof of this is her commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding concerning Cooperation in Human Resources Deployment and Development, which we signed with the Province of British Columbia,” the President said during his stopover in Vancouver, Canada.

“We indeed laud her efforts, and we hope to see more of her initiatives translate to the mutual benefit for our countrymen here, and the rest of the province and its communities,” Aquino added.

The labor pact was signed by Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and British Columbia Minister for International Trade Teresa Wat. It aims to facilitate the employment and deployment of Filipino workers in British Columbia to meet labor needs as identified by BC’s labor market information.

The cooperation agreement also aims to enforce existing regulations to protect the workers and promote sound, ethical, and equitable recruitment and employment practices.

It will strengthen collaborative effort to eliminate barriers on the certification, recognition, and matching of skills and qualifications of Filipinos in accordance with the requirements set by BC regulations. Filipino workers who wish to permanently work and immigrate to BC will be assisted through the Philippine-Province of British Columbia MOU.

Meantime, the President also held a meeting with the top executives of the Aquilini Investors Group, a Canadian company that has renewable energy investments in the Philippines.

The Aquilini company reportedly plans to expand its investments in the areas of agriculture, aquaculture, housing and infrastructure. The firm has already invested US$25 million in a waste-to-energy plant at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) complex in Mactan, Cebu.