17 November 2025, Ottawa – The Philippine Embassy in Canada hosted this year’s Consular and Economic Consultations (CEC) in a hybrid format, gathering representatives from the Embassy, the Philippine Consulates General in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Winnipeg, as well as representatives from various Philippine government agencies.
Ambassador Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga led the discussions and emphasized the importance of enhanced coordination among the Philippine Embassy, Consulates General and Government agencies in advancing the Philippines’ priorities and promoting the welfare of Filipinos in Canada.
Resource officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, led by Assistant Secretary for American Affairs Raquel Solano, participated both in person and virtually to provide updates on policy directions under the four pillars of the country’s foreign policy, along with other relevant matters. Also present onsite were representatives from private sector stakeholders, Unilab and the Asian Consulting Group.
Participating virtually were representatives from the various offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Migrant Workers, Department of Energy, Department of Science and Technology, Commission on Higher Education, Professional Regulation Commission, Commission on Filipinos Overseas, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Social Security System, Pag-IBIG Fund, and Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, who each provided updates on their programs, services, and ongoing engagements in Canada.
The CEC is an annual meeting of the Philippine country-team in Canada to take stock of the progress and discuss updates on consular services, assistance-to-nationals, economic, cultural and public diplomacy initiatives of the Philippines in Canada.END
