Many people from the Philippines choose to immigrate to Canada because there are better opportunities here, than in many Asian countries. I interviewed Kylle Santillano, who recently immigrated to Canada about a year and a half ago, about why he and his family chose to come to Canada. I had an idea of why people from the Philippines might immigrate to Canada, but Kylle told me his situation and shed a lot of light on the immigration experience from his perspective. Overall, Kylle’s life has been impacted positively by moving to Canada.
Kylle mentioned that he and his family came to Canada for the better education opportunities. In the Philippines, the educational system seems to have some issues that prevent it from being a greater help to the Filipino people. For example, Kylle said that his school did not have any technology to help expand his education. By having computers the students in the Philippines would have other tools for learning along with the help of their teachers. There is also a lack of well educated teachers in the Philippines, Kylle compared the teaching styles as very different. He said that teachers in Canada tend to offer more extra help and give a very clear explanation of the work being given, whereas teachers in the Philippines do not offer any extra help or explain the work thoroughly. Class sizes have a big part to do with that issue. In canada, an average class size is about 25-30 students which allows the teacher to be able to give extra help to the students who require it. In the Philippines the class sizes tend to be much larger, the average being around 60 students (Santillano). In my personal experience, a larger class size wouldn’t have worked for me because when extra help is needed it’s easy to access in a classroom with fewer students. Because Canada has a better educational system, many people in the Philippines choose to cometo Canada for a better education.
Employment was another reason Kylle and his family chose to come to Canada. Kylle explained that back when he and his family lived in the Philippines, his parents were both teachers and that the reason they really wanted to come to Canada was for the better job opportunities. When he and his family came to Canada his parents got into automotive jobs, earning a higher salary than they did working as teachers in the Philippines. Also Because unemployment rate in the Philippines is at about 11% and growing, students graduating from college and university are going to have a difficult time finding a high skilled job because there are not enough jobs for the amount of students graduating each year (workpermit.com). Canada’s unemployment rate sits at about 6.9% as of December 2016, which is quite lower than the unemployment rate in the Philippines (tradingeconomics.com). Kylle said he is not sure what career he wants to get into in the future, but he now has more options to choose from. As for his sister, she wants to become a nurse and now has the opportunity to go to high ranked school and follow her dreams of becoming a nurse. I believe that job opportunities would be a major reason why people from the Philippines are moving to Canada, especially for the generations to come. Because the unemployment rate keeps rising, students in the Philippines would have a better chance at getting the job they want living in Canada.
Although immigrating to Canada has had a positive impact on Kylle’s life, he has also experienced struggle through this major change in his life. His major struggles being learning to speak English, making new friends, and missing home. Kylle explained that learning English was very difficult for him at first. The language barrier had an impact on making friends but as his english speaking skills increased it became much easier for him to connect with people. But his biggest hardship being missing his home country. He told me that he does consider Canada his home, but be he still misses the home he grew up in and the friends he had in the Philippines.
Through all the struggles and adapting, Kylle said immigrating to Canada has had a positive impact on his life and he is glad he came. His life has changed drastically from his learning experience in the classroom to the job opportunities he has in the future.He and his family now have a better chance at creating a better future for themselves.
Works cited
Santillano, Kylle. Interview. By Kellie Gooderham. Dec. 2016.
Work Permit. www.workpermit.com/news/
many-filipinos-immigrating-canada-better-future-20050513.
many-filipinos-immigrating-canada-better-future-20050513.
Trading Economics. tradingeconomics.com.
I find it very enlightening that you had the opportunity to hear someone else's perspective on Canadian life. Most of the opportunities that we take for granted could dramatically change the quality of life for someone else. When I wrote my rez sisters essay, I made a lot of connections between the sisters and real Canadian indigenous people. My main focus was the sacrifices that people of colour have to make to adapt to white society. I find this to be true with Kylle, as he struggled to learn English quickly enough to adapt and start talking to people, and now he gets to talk to you! People like Kyle get to share their stories with people like us who haven't had to work as hard to achieve the same goals. It really opens your eyes to hear different takes on the same concept from teenagers from different countries. I also experienced this when I interviewed John, and he made me rethink many of the opportunities I take for granted every day, especially my education. It's interesting to see how much more passionate someone becomes about their education when they haven't always had access to it. Overall, I'm glad that Kylle and his family are adapting well, and I wish him luck with his future endeavors in Canada!
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