Cacho family has found a home in Kipling

Some people are Canadians because they were born here, and some are Canadians by choice. For some it has been a difficult journey to come to Canada, for some the promise of a better life is being fulfilled. To mark Canada Day, we spoke to a couple of families in the area who were born elsewhere and who chose Canada as their home.

Elainy Cacho moved from the Philippines to Canada in 2008 after she and her husband looked into different countries that would best suit them to raise a family.

“My husband first came here in 2007 when he was hired by PIC and then he sponsored me to come over,” said Cacho. 

“The Philippines is a Third World country and it was overly populated and we thought Canada was a greener pasture for us to start our family here. Before my husband came here, we did our research. We looked at population and culture, and we found Canada was very quiet and a nice place to raise kids plus the job opportunities are really good over here. We decided it would be best to raise our future kids and have our family here.”

Moving from the Philippines to Canada was a culture shock at first, says Cacho, but the community embracing her and her husband made the transition much easier.

“Going from the Philippines straight to Kipling—this is our first destination and we never moved—it was a little bit of a shock in the sense that it’s so quiet,” she said. “I grew up in a crowded city and back in the Philippines we knew of the bigger cities in Canada and that’s what I was expecting. 

“Then I came here into a small town and my first reaction was, ‘this is it? This is Canada!’ As we met people, everybody was so friendly and accommodating. Living in a small town, everybody is so nice and you know everybody and everybody knows you. It’s different living in a small town than bigger centres and we like it here. We settled down and had our kids, born and raised here. We’re loving Canada.”

When they first made the move to Kipling, Cacho says, everybody helped them when they needed it most and that sense of community remains to this day.

“The community has been great, living in a small community where neighbours are looking after neighbours,” she said. 

“We got lots of help from the community when we were first starting. We didn’t have anything when we came here. We were renting and we didn’t have any beds or anything we needed. The community was amazing, when they knew we needed stuff, they offered their stuff for us to use. It’s been like that the whole time. We’ve lived here for over 10 years and its never changed. That’s still the way it is here.”

The difference in job opportunities was a factor in moving from the Philippines to Canada, says Cacho, with it being difficult to find consistent work and the pressures of future job security starting at an early age in school.

“My husband was a veterinarian in the Philippines and when we came here he worked as a pig farmer,” she said. “He spent six years in university for medicine to become a veterinarian, but the education system is different so when we validated our credentials it was only good for grade 12. 

“It was quite a big difference, but once we got here we went to school together and took practical nursing together and we are working as LPNs (licensed practical nurses) right now.  

“Here there are good opportunities for employment. In the Philippines there are lots of people and competition for finding a job is very tough. With our kids, there are pros and cons. When we were in school there was so much competition to get higher grades and to be recognized. Here it’s more relaxed, in the sense that children are not pressured and it’s a good balance of academics and extracurriculars.”

The quality of life difference from living in the Philippines to Canada is vast with circumstances like job security and health care, says Cacho.

“We are really proud and grateful to be Canadian and to be here in Canada,” she said. “We feel really lucky that we’re living where we are right now. For us, it’s a privilege. When hearing stories from the Philippines, lots of people really struggle to find work and raise their families. 

“At the same time, you have to not only save money for your retirement, but for your medical needs because not everything is free over there. A big thing there is the medical system where people who can’t afford to go to the doctor and don’t have money and are feeling sick can’t do anything because they can’t afford it. Here you don’t have to worry about that.”

Cacho says, her friends and family celebrate Canada Day every year and are thankful that they have the opportunity to do so.

“We get together—Filipino’s love a party with food—and we have some Filipino friends and their families that we gather with and have our feast and watch fireworks,” she said. “We always do that on Canada Day.”