hello people! does anyone of you guys live in canada now???? im lookin for fellow ateneans here in canada...

My brother is a "true Atenean" all the way from grade school. His wife and in laws graduated in the 1980's. There are Ateneans in Vancouver and Toronto too.

hehehe long term goal ko to!

It's a point based system to get in. Need to take my MBA +5 pts, learn french +8 pts, need to get confirmed job offer +10 pts

hey isda
i'm from vancouver!!!! canucks rule!!!!

isn't there an Ateneo BC alumni association of some sort?
i really want to participate in some of their events, get to know ppl, etc
but i don't know anyone

....or if you have a relative who is already here, they could just sponsor you and you could forget about those points

hey chipmunk! u live in vancouver... i live in richmond! ey add me on ur msn. pandakapigmeya@hotmail.com ey r u goin to the importshow on the 23rd???

no man
i got my finals comming up

wut skul you go 2?

i think 4 classmates from college 1980 live in richmond and vancouver. i was supposed to migrate kaya lang dito muna ako sa pinas. any tips on life in canada guys? i was in europe for 6 years...ngayon dito na lang sa pinas..

Hi Blue Horse(noted from your profile you're an accountant) this is OFF-TOPIC, just like to know how true accountants are in demand there in the US. is it really that in demand?

There are still jobs to be had but the market is quite tight. The top accounting firms were not able to absorb all of the accountants of Arthur Andersen and there are talks according to our auditors that these surviving accounting firms are looking to downsize too.

the best place to migrate to in canada i think is alberta. why? because it's more immigrant friendly. calgary and edmonton are not that big of cities but everything is much cheaper. taxes are lower and the overall cost of living is lower. plus, both cities are growing and since it's not as populated yet, it's much easier to find jobs. the only negative i think is the weather. it can get pretty cold during the winter.
it also depends on the type of jobs you want to get into.

OK lang yung weather. yugoslavia was minus 15 deg Celsius...germany is not warm either. But thanks for the tip. Kaya lang mas mabilis ang immig if yoiu already have relatives who can petition you rather than going there as an Independent Immigrant---with all those points to be accumulated.

I was in Toronto for two weeks then. Medyo Okay naman doon. My friends are all there but we might try the West Coast of Canada...

Thanks.

demand for US-certified accountants are really that tight. but what about other fields of accounting?

because of the current "brain drain" (where all the professionals canada produces moves down south to make more $$) canada badly need ppl to come in. that's why it's so much easier to get here. like you said, if you already have a relative who can petition, then that's good. all they have to do is fork out the $$. that's also why a lot of terrorists who plan on bombing one part of the US goes through canada first

I agree with most of the comments of Chipmunk. Calgary is nice and clean situated about a mile up from sea level. If you drive an hour out of the city, you can see the majestic Canadian Rockies.

The cost of living is very low in both Calgary and Edmonton although I find Calgary a better looking city than Edmonton. The province of Alberta is the only province in Canada that does not have any income tax or sales tax thanks to the residuals the province receives from the oil industry. Healthcare and education is subsidized greatly by the province. The people enjoy a very high standard of living and that is why people from the Maritines and other provinces are migrating to Alberta. But it is not as cosmopolitan as Toronto or Vancouver.

The current job market in Calgary like any where else in Canada is tight specially if you are a techie.

ey dude
u from ubc right? i study at angus hall at night for the finals. r u done with urs?

no
i got math tomorrow night (wednesday)
my last one and then i'm off

i just had an exam today
i got raped badly
i swear i could have just bent over

swerte mo dude ako i gotta wait til friday pa to finish. then im off na to manila

math ano yan? anong yr ka na ba?

2nd year
math 255

econ ba yung friday mo?

ikaw anong year mo na? are you in commerce?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chipmunk:
2nd year
math 255

econ ba yung friday mo?

ikaw anong year mo na? are you in commerce?[/QUOTE

stat yung friday ko. sfu ako 3rd yr joint communications and busn. tambay lang ako sa ubc commerce dahil mas maraming chinese na hot chik

no way
i like the sfu ones better
masyadong maraming hongers sa ubc
pero sa sfu, puro 'canadianized' and mga chinita, mas trip ko yon!!

good luck man

thanks. ok kaya mga honger. medjo mayayabang pero hot nonetheless

cge merry xmas na lang

i'd like to ask, how good are the chances of working in canada as a physician assistant? i plan to work on my papers starting January next year. i think more than 300 thou pesos is needed in the processing, i'd want to know if it's worth it. i have relatives who live there but i don't know how they could help.

Actually, I do have at least 1 first degree relative in Canada, but the people we talked to said cousins, even though first cousins, don't count. CRAP!

how about ABAP programmers? i've looked for jobs but they all want people with papers already..something which i don't have.

i don't see any progress in my current company...3 guesses which IT company in Makati i'm working for...argh....

I hear the SAP market is really down, so don't get your hopes up. It's projected to rebound in the next two years, though, so baka maigi patience muna. And make sure that you skill up on the new stuff. If you can't wait, your best bet is probably Singapore.

My three guesses: Magnus, Accenture, uhm...I can't think of another one. Luen Thai?

I am an ex-inmate of Ateneo - P.Faura, Belarmine Hall, Loyola; Eliazo Hall, P.Faura.

I am now living in diaspora in Toronto. I count as one of those who chose to live in the Atlantic rather than the Pacific.

Mixed-race kids the future of Canada
LIVING IN CANADA By Mel Tobias
The Philippine Star 06/06/2004

"Mixed-race Kids Our Future In Canada" claimed a leading Vancouver publication. And metropolitan Canadian cities of Toronto, Montreal and Greater Vancouver are making this prediction a reality because of the following salient factors in the said cities: More international couples; less residential segregation; smaller income gap between white and non-whites; more tolerant, friendly and accommodating attitudes toward new immigrants; integrated residents who are less likely to see their ethnicity as important to their identity. It is a sad fact though that many Filipinos in Vancouver and Toronto are still trapped in their Pinoy mentality and ethnicity, and finally, residents of all races, mixed or not intermingle socially and culturally without grave difficulty.

Statistics showed that more than one in eight young couples in Vancouver are made up of people of two different races. It has truly become a Eurasian city. It has been said that it is difficult to find another example of a place like Vancouver that has radically shifted from a largely white city to a truly integrated one in less than 40 years. Another city cited after Vancouver that has been racially reshaped is London, England.

My son’s graduation from Ateneo high school is due in March next year, and it’s good timing that it will come before we immigrate to Canada no later than 28 April. We plan to initially settle in Vancouver where we hopefully can find some work and a school for my son’s college education. So, we will appreciate it if anyone in Vancouver can share with us any info regarding the possibility of my son’s admission to UBC or some other university/college, and find work for my wife and I. From the previous posts in this thread, it seems that jobs are quite “tight,” especially for "techies." well, we happen to be non-techies and we're willing to do full-time entry level work in banking, government or whatever possible field. Thank you.

Some of my Fil-Canadian friends in the UN recommend Alberta as an immigrant destination. Apparently the province is overflowing with energy natural resources and correspondingly, government money to spend on health care and education. BC's other big university is Simon Fraser U.

I will be one of the first to cheer for this particular mixed-race kid (Chinese/Dutch) from Canada!

Kristin Kreuk, who plays Lana Lang on Smallville:

^^
oh these illuminatis and their 'new world order'. eugenics has yet to be proven effective. stick to racism.

If you have TFC, try watching Miss Global Pinay on MTB. Lots of mixed races there.

I agree with Rabbaddal. Alberta is being pushed as an alternative province for new immigrants to Canada because the cost of living is cheaper than in BC or Ontario. Alberta has no sales tax compared to Toronto's 8%, one only has to pay the national tax on anything purchased except food of 7.5%. The provincial goverment of Alberta gives more benefits to the provincial people compared to the other provinces because of the gas and oil reserves in the province. People from the Maritine provinces are heading to Alberta.

Alberta has 2 big schools and both are considered among the top 10 schools in Canada. University of Calgary in Calgary and University of Alberta in Edmonton. Both are closely compatible to each other and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

I find Calgary prettier than Edmonton and on a clear day one can see the Canadian Rockies from Calgary. Banff National Park is only an hours drive and one can sky in the Calgary Olympic village.

Compared to Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal; Calgary and Edmonton is quite smaller in terms of population. There is a big group of Ateneans in Vancouver and Toronto. Check with Fr. Tito or Jun Dalandan for email addresses and network with them. Who knows, they may be able to help you land a job.

hey isda! i just moved here in canada last june 2004. im living with my family here in barrie, ontario. what's your location?

I just wanted to get back close to the original topic: Are there any Ateneans here in Toronto? I moved to Toronto last year Christmas (Dec 25 2003) and I'm currently working for one of the head offices of TD Canada Trust bank. Christmas 2004 has come and gone and I still have not met any Ateneans. I know that there was somesort of Alumni meeting held here last June however that was the time when I decided to go back to Manila for vacation.

does that include ateneans in the GTA like mississauga and oakville? there is an atenean association specific to toronto but whenever there is a gathering, i'm always doing something else. anyway, i've been stationed in the GTA since 06/02. as much as i'm a new yorker, this cold weather and driving on ice is getting too old too fast. so you're working for the green machine--now and then i've been doing vetting procedures for td bank execs/specialists bound for transfer to the td-waterhouse in the US.....well happy holidays...from a temporary ontarian.

Merry Christmas to you too! I used to live in Mississuaga three months ago until the three hour travel between work and home got to me so now I live in North York in front of Fairview mall. How does one even find out about the meetings in Toronto?

Reginacool: The only way of knowing if there are ateneo-related functions in the toronto area is through the ateneo alumni association of canada (4167519437)--that is official functions. Or, check Ateneocanada.tripod.com. I don't think there are on-going events right now. There's just not too many of us as compared to the guys in nyc and dc. so, you drive to work or take the yonge line train?with this driving in snow--if wish i could just take the train. but being between erin mills pkwy and winston churchill in mississauga, public commute is not an option. it's good you moved because you always hit the worst traffic periods--eastbound for the a.m. and westbound for the mid p.m. mississauga is still ok--it has a quiet semi-provincial feel--the thing that i need after usualy eventful days....later.

I moved here to Calgary a year ago to continue high school and because Alberta is probably the best immigrant destination. It's going to be debt free soon because of the province's oil and gas industries. Although I'm just in high school, I've been forced to research about the universities in this province and from what I've heard, U of A is supposed to be good in health and medicine and Uof C is well connected to the oil and gas industry. Calgary IS prettier than Edmonton and you'd probably also want to see the "Stampede" here in July which is supposedly the biggest rodeo in the world. I don't think Calgary's population will be small for long now that the province is rich and I think it may spend a bit of that of money on immigrants. Two downsides are the lack of an alumni association (although most of the Ateneans I've known here are high school students who's dads were from the provinces and went to Manila for university or a better job. {like mine- studied in UP. There is a UPAAC here so that's why he liked it here as well. })

The biggest downside is the weather. It gets colder here than in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal. But at least it's not Winnepeg. ski mask hehe

is anyone here from Manitoba?

AK-47,

I just visited your lovely city during the recent holiday. I stayed with my brothers in the Mount Royale section of downtown and in the SW end of the city. The weather was cold during my stay but as old time Calgarians like to say, it's dry cold. It does not help that the water in Calgary is "heavy". In Toronto, the weather is cold but wet because of the snow.

Relatively speaking, mas mura tumira sa Calgary. Alberta does not have any sales tax. Even in the airport, the carts are available to the passengers for free. My niece attends UC full time and her tuition fees are less than 3K Canadian every semester. That is about half of what my sister paid while attending UofT in Toronto.

There are not to many Ateneans in Calgary. I personally know 4 graduates of ADMU; my brother, his wife and his 2 sister in laws. I also know of 3 others who spent time in AGS. They are all much older than you. The Pinoy community is growing in Calgary. I used to remember when their count was only a few hundred.

Since I am a frequent visitor to Calgary, I may run into you one of these days.

Hi Isda!

Where are you in Canada? I live in Toronto. I actually didn't graduate from
the Ateneo. I went to school there for a year and a half before coming to
Canada to pursue my undergrad. =) Anyway, I'm in the same position as you
are!

Here's my yahoomessenger and msn for all you Ateneans in Canada!
Looking forward to hearing from you. =)

Jill

Yahoo: stephaniejill_tsai@yahoo.com
MSN: stephanie_jt@hotmail.com

*just indicate that you're an Atenean who received my message =)

You guys could also try Ottawa. Yes, it's godawfully cold (-35 C with the wind chill on some days) but it's not a bad city. There's the fed gov't jobs to look at along with the large number of hi-tech startups and the businesses that support those two "industries". Oh, there's Nortel here as well but I wouldn't recommend them!

I've lived in Toronto and, while the city IS larger and probably has more to offer than Ottawa, it's beginning to get the whole large city syndrome. Ottawa's safe, secure, and .... uh..... cold. And if you can land one of the gov't jobs, hey, you're pretty much set!

By the way, if any of you have a technical background (e.g. biochem, mech engineering, computer engineering, physics, etc., etc.) then you may want to look at the Cdn Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) as an option. They're looking for patent examiners -- the job's quite easy, it's interesting, and you're always dealing with interesting things. You won't make a million bucks but it's not a bad job. Hey, you may want to use it as a springboard to something else!

Here's a link to CIPO :

http://strategis.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/paten...yopps_p4-e.html

Hope this helps ..... and if you want more info, email me or something and I'll try to answer your questions.

According to the mods, they're going to launch a new forum on immigration / living in other countries. We're probably going to see more discussion about migrating once the new forum is in place. In the meantime, here's an interesting article:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More middle-class Filipinos seek brighter future in Canada
Posted 12:44pm (Mla time) May 13, 2005
By Mynardo Macaraig
Agence France-Presse


MANILA--Despite its cold climate, Canada is fast becoming the country of choice for many middle-class professional Filipinos who are leaving the tropical Philippines in droves to seek a better future for themselves and their families overseas.
Armed with a college degree and a good career history with a multinational electronics firm in Manila, Ferdie Del Rosario plans to quit his job and emigrate to Canada.

Taking a day off from his job as a supervisor at Amkor Technology, he has brought one of his small children along to a seminar on becoming a Canadian citizen.

Del Rosario points to his daughter, playing on the aisle during a seminar break, and says he is doing it "for the future of my kids".

He says his life here is comfortable but even he is worried about what lies ahead for the Philippines.

"You can see the situation: there are so many graduates but not enough jobs. In my job, there are college graduates who are just machine operators."

Unemployment is running at about 11 percent nationally and rising, and, with 700,000 new college graduates every year, the economy cannot create enough skilled jobs to accommodate them.

A million Filipinos are expected to leave the country this year, most of them in search of temporary, higher-paying jobs. But a growing number are pulling up stakes for good in a country where 51 percent live on two dollars a day or less.

For the optimistic crowds who attend the seminars organized by the Canadian government's Citizenship and Immigration ministry, there is little sign of wistfulness about leaving the land of their birth.

Offered free of charge twice a week to those approved immigrants to Canada, the seminars prepare Filipinos about the realities of their new country: the cold weather, the culture shock and having as much as 30 percent of their salaries go to taxes--a sharp adjustment for Filipinos who are used to evading taxes back home.

Canadians based in the Philippines say there is much to love in the Southeast Asian country: a comfortable, tropical climate, beautiful beaches, fresh fruits and fresh seafood.

But at one recent seminar, the would-be migrants, mostly professionals or skilled workers, said they would be glad to leave "the pollution" and "bribery."

The only things the Filipinos said they would miss are the friends and family they will be leaving behind--and the low-cost househelp that every middle-class Filipino family can afford.

Filipinos are the third largest group of immigrants to Canada, just behind the Chinese and Indians. Approximately 12,000 immigrated last year alone, Canadian officials said.

The number excludes 2,000 Filipino caregivers allowed into Canada each year under a special program which lets them become permanent residents after about three years.

In the past, the United States was the migrants' first choice. But stricter US immigration regulations, Canada's more open policy to skilled workers, state-subsidized schools and health care are attracting more Filipinos.

The Canadian government advises migrants to bring enough money to survive for six months because it may take them that long to settle and find a job.

The immigrants are not intimidated by advice that their educational and professional qualifications may not count as much in Canada--or tales from earlier migrants about how they had to start working at the bottom of the ladder.

Teachers in government schools get paid about 200 dollars a month here in the Philippines, about half what they can earn as domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Government doctors earn around 400-500 dollar a month in the Philippines but in north America they can earn many times that each month as nurses.

Many are willing to endure this because they have lost hope in a home country which suffers from sluggish economic growth, political squabbling and corruption.

Gloomy sentiments about the Philippines have been growing for years. A July 2002 survey by Manila-based polling outfit Pulse Asia Inc. found that 24 percent of adults said they would "migrate to another country and live there" if given a chance.

Options of preventing the country's best and brightest from leaving are few. "Well, what can we do about it? Tell me, can I prevent you from leaving? I don't think so," says Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas.

One prospective migrant, dancer Jojo Lucila proudly recalls how he choreographed some of the official Philippine Independence Day parades in recent years.

But in his trips abroad, he was impressed by the discipline and way of life in Canada. "It is a good place to raise kids. Once there, you hardly see people blow their horns when they drive."

Lucila says "the straw that broke the camel's back" was joining his children in watching the televised corruption trial of deposed Philippine president Joseph Estrada.

His kids seemed more impressed by the eloquence of the lawyers rather than the moral issue of a president being tried for plundering his country, he recalls.

"You can't tell what are the obvious values [here]. Our system is too disorderly. You don't know who to trust. We want our kids to have a choice of understanding a better country, [learning] what is right and what should be done," he said.

Louise Belanger, Philippine manager of the Canadian Orientation Abroad project does not recall any case of a Filipino going to Canada and then returning home in disappointment.

One woman wrote to her, saying she wanted to give up after only six months. She was advised to stick it out and in a year, she found her desired job as a chartered accountant, Belanger recalls.

Glenda Carabit, assistant professor at a small provincial college, says she is going because "at my age, 40, I have served the country that long. I can spend the rest of my life as a Canadian."

She is confident that the she will be able to cope with the new environment. "I'm a Filipino. We can handle these things," Carabit says.

"It's a trend. Everybody is going now," she adds.

my family and I are part of the statistics mentioned in the article. on one hand, we are one of a growing number of disenchanted Filipinos leaving the country, and on the other hand, we are one of the newly landed immigrants still struggling to get the so-called "canadian experience" as part of the arduous process of settling here.
we knew beforehand that it is not going to be easy. and it is. we are living the difficulties and frustrations, or perhaps we are just being impatient considering we are barely a month here in canada since our arrival.
although we are willing to start at the bottom and endure some of the hardships we are not so accustomed to back in the Philippines like the luxury of domestic help in our home, what's so frustrating of our (not so canadian) experience is, it's easier to find work as an illegal in the US (like caregivers) than find work here in Canada as a legal permanent resident. there are lots of "now hiring" signs posted outside stores and taking in resumes, but you don't get any calls at all.
so we have to resort to window dressing (meaning cheat) our resumes to make it appear more blue collar than it actually should our work background as office borne workers. i am not suggesting this, but if this is one way to get that "canadian experience" then i'd risk it. just make sure you get your story straight. Once you get your first (canadian) job, you can get it into your resume for your next job hunt for better work. then after a few months later, you can go into what they call here a "skills upgrade." this is part of canadian recognition of your skills. I suppose, at that point, you're on your way to establishing yourself here.
fortunately for us, we have some friends of our relatives who are willing to help out in our job search. hopefully that help from friends and relatives will last until we find work. the other good part is -- our son stands to benefit from Canadian government aided college education. that's the part that's worth all the pain and trouble of coming to Canada and -- of course -- for the sake of his future.
so to all would be immigrants -- you can come jump in the pool, but it's up to you to know if the water is fine.

Rainman --

All I can say is, don't give up. I remember when my family first came to Canada back in the late 80s -- it WAS hard. Everyone in the family went out and got a job. The jobs were less than ideal and life WAS hard. But, after a few years of struggling, things started to look up. We all went back to school (at one point everyone in the family was going to school!) and "upgraded" our backgrounds. Things have gone well and we're now enjoying the fruits of all those years of struggle.

Just keep at it. There IS a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. At the very least, your kids can have the benefit of a Cdn university education and the benefits of a socialized health care system.

Yes, what you have to go through is very different from what we had in the Philippines. And it's DEFINITELY different from what we experienced at the Ateneo. But, that being said, it's really for the kids isn't it? Just make sure that they understand this ..... I had to be reminded of it time and again by my parents that they left a good life back home so that us kids could have a brighter (if colder) future here. So far, we haven't disappointed ........ Well, maybe once or twice ......

By the way, I agree with your approach re: job hunt. Employers are looking for relevant North American experience. It may not be necessary to "cheat" on your resume but you may want to be selective as to what you put in it.

The water may be a tad chilly at first but you get used to it after a while.

Good luck dude ........ By the way, which city are you in?

hey

i'm part of that statistic too. i've been here in toronto for almost two years now and yeah, it wasn't easy. it still isn't. gone are the luxuries i was used to having back home. a bit frustrating especially in the beginning. but i can only imagine how frustrated my parents must have been. our move here was more for us than for them. so people should really be ready if they do choose to move here in canada or anywhere else for that matter.

oh yeah, i'm not exactly an atenean. i didn't graduate from ateneo. i just studied there for two years before moving here. but it'll be cool to join one of those ateneno-related functions. i still follow the eagles in the uaap. hehe. and if anyone here goes to york u, message me.

Sumthinblue,

There is a big group of Ateneans scattered around the metro Toronto area. Infact, they hosted the North American reunion last year at the Marriott at Eaton Center. If I am lucky, I may get in touch with some of them when I visit Toronto soon. I will make sure to tell them to check out this thread so they can extend a welcome to you to join them in their social affairs.

Thanks, Blue Horse! And I'll pass that information to a friend who also attended Ateneo before coming here in Canada. Good thing I stumbled upon this thread. I haven't met a lot of Ateneans here in Canada. Anyway, thanks again!