Engagement launched for provincial Filipino cultural centre
A new website and survey will provide British Columbians with opportunities to share their vision for a new provincial cultural centre dedicated to celebrating Filipino Canadians’ heritage and contributions to B.C.’s success.
“The contributions of the Filipino Canadian community in B.C. are an important part of our province’s history, culture and success,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. “People’s input matters and it’s important we hear from Filipino Canadians. This engagement encourages everyone to share their perspectives and contribute to the vision of this cultural initiative.”
As part of the engagement, a website and an online survey have been launched to ensure everyone has an opportunity to share their ideas and be represented. The development of the website and survey follows multiple roundtables with community organization leaders.
The engagement is designed to ensure that a wide range of voices and ideas are heard and represented in a vision that unites communities for this new cultural centre. The Province is dedicated to an inclusive and transparent engagement process, providing space for broad community input.
“Establishing a Filipino cultural centre has been a passion of mine ever since I was first elected and I am thrilled to see it move closer to being a reality,” said Mable Elmore, Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives. “I encourage everyone to share their ideas and thoughts during the engagement process. That way, we can make sure this cultural centre captures the diversity, vibrancy and resiliency of the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who call B.C. home.”
During the engagement process, individuals and communities will have opportunities to provide input on key aspects of the project, such as scope, location and vision, ensuring it reflects community interests.
Feedback will be summarized, capturing key recommendations, themes and considerations, and released in a report in spring 2025. Insights from the survey will inform the next steps in establishing a provincial Filipino cultural centre.
Quick Facts:
- Filipinos have a long history in British Columbia dating back to the 1880s, when a small community lived on Bowen Island.
- More than 170,000 Filipinos call the province home.
- Filipino Canadians are the fourth-largest visible minority group in Canada and the third-largest in B.C.
- B.C.’s Filipino population is expected to more than double by 2041.
- There are many local Filipino associations, religious and not-for-profit organizations, and other community and cultural centres in the province, but no provincial Filipino cultural centre.
Learn More:
Take part in the survey and stay updated on progress: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/provincialfilipinoculturalcentre