Filipino Canadians currently represent the fourth-largest visible minority in Canada and form a plurality-and, in some cases, the majority-of the migrant population in certain neighbourhoods. Their growing prominence in the Canadian labour market underscores the relevance of this publication. Despite being over a decade old, it’s a great read for those researching the socioeconomic realities of the Filipino community or seeking to deepen their understanding of migration research, particularly in relation to labour and educational outcomes.

As a Filipino immigrant, this publication resonated deeply with me. Despite the successes within my own family-such as my university degree, my brother's completion of a master's degree, and my parents' achievements in their respective fields despite the deprofessionalization they experienced-I have encountered countless Filipinos whose experiences reflect many of the challenges outlined in this work. These include stories of deprofessionalization, the need to repeat an academic year despite prior educational credentials from the Philippines, poor labour market outcomes following the Live-in Caregiver Program, and the emotional toll of family separation. These lived realities continue to corroborate the data presented in this publication.

However, while there has been prior research literature on the labour and educational outcomes of second-generation immigrants in general, there remains a significant gap in studies focusing specifically on second-generation Filipino Canadians. The interesting conclusion that first-generation Filipino immigrants often achieve higher educational success than their second-generation counterparts-despite both groups demonstrating high labour participation rates-raises critical questions-had me wondering what cultural, structural, or historical factors unique to the Filipino diaspora contribute to this discrepancy? For example, the association of certain careers (e.g., custodial work) with the Filipino community, the complexities of intersecting racial identities shaped by Spanish and American colonial legacies, and the historical migrations of East Asian, South Asian, and Austronesian peoples to the Philippines.

This is not meant to diminish the achievements of those in the community who have succeeded nor those that have willingly chosen alternatives to post-secondary education. However, the aforementioned anomaly is an indication that many in the community may either be underemployed or are employed for the purposes of providing for themselves and family rather than for aspirational career purposes. Regardless of the root causes, those who are locked out of educational opportunities, not by choice but by socioeconomic conditions and policies that either deliberately keep them locked out or is innocuous in nature but failed to account for them, deserve an opportunity to access those opportunities, and publications like this one are crucial for identifying and addressing these root causes.

Since this study was conducted in 2014, prior to the reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census under the Trudeau government in 2016, one must wonder how its findings might have changed had more robust data from the 2016 census was available, although I reckon that the conclusions would have remained more or less similar. With the Trudeau government subsequently increasing immigration targets, especially in response to labour shortages primarily caused by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the subsequent reductions in non-permanent residency targets and added restrictions on family sponsorships-based immigration (in response to concerns, albeit misguided, regarding the effects of the government’s immigration policies on housing availability and prices), this study will need a major revisiting, especially as the Filipino population in Canada crossed the 1 million mark. Other major developments include the growth of the number of Filipino civic and community groups (e.g., Pinoys on Parliament, Filipino Canadian Students Association) as well as the election of the very first Filipina MP in 2021 (Rechie Valdez, Mississauga–Streetsville), whose impact on the aspirational and networking aspect of second-generation Filipino Canadians’ upward mobility remains to be seen and studied.

As previously mentioned, the mandatory long-form census being reinstated was an important development, but more granular community-based data is needed. As Kelly noted, Statistics Canada does a phenomenal job with ascertaining socioeconomic indicators and creating predictive models,  but these are often too generalized to capture the cultural and qualitative nuances of specific communities such as the Filipino diaspora. By combining statistical approaches with more culturally sensitive and community-based qualitative methodologies, researchers, community leaders, civic organizations, educational and labour institutions, and governments can further enhance their abilities to craft policies that can reduce this educational discrepancy and, therefore, enhance upward mobility.