Workers from the Philippines in Western PEI

By Emily Burton, PhD, Oral Historian

Introduction

This blog focusses on the work lives of four women from the Philippines who are among the many Filipinos to arrive in Prince Edward Island in recent years. All four women participated in oral history interviews in 2023, and all four live in Western PEI, where they work, care for their families, and contribute to their communities. Their stories are unique, but also offer a glimpse of life on the island for the growing Filipino community.

According to the most-recent Canadian census, there were almost 12,000 immigrants in Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 2021, representing 7.8% of the island population. Among them, just over 1,500 people named the Philippines as their place of birth, including 465 non-permanent residents with work permits.[1] Many people from the Philippines arrived in PEI initially as Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW), later applying to become Permanent Residents, and then sponsoring spouses and/or children. Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) agreements with local seafood and fish-processing plants allow them to hire the foreign workers.[2] Some newcomers continue with this work, while others have sought other employment or started their own businesses. The Filipino community is active in Western PEI, with many people volunteering in the community, and attending local churches, cultural and sporting events.

Seafood And Fish Processing Plants

From Cleaning Crew to Food Handling: Lobster, Crab and Herring

Gervil Largosa Labra grew up in Cebu, Philippines, and later moved to Manila, where she had several jobs, including at a Wendy’s restaurant, and selling condos and houses.[3] While still in the Philippines, Gervil was contacted by a cousin who had migrated to PEI, letting Gervil know that the plant where she worked was looking to hire additional employees. Gervil applied online for a position through an agency in the Philippines. The PEI employer had a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) document that demonstrated the need for foreign workers. Gervil was granted a work permit as a Temporary Foreign Worker upon arrival in Canada in 2017, along with 4 or 5 other people from the Philippines. They all began working at the same plant in Tignish, PEI.

Gervil’s first job at the plant was on the nighttime cleaning crew. After about a year, she transferred to the food handling division of the plant. Her day shifts were usually from 6am until 4:30pm. She worked brining, packaging, and weighing whole lobsters. Other workers at the plant worked on the water, bringing in live lobsters. She also occasionally worked with live orders, packing the lobsters in boxes, as the live orders have to be processed quickly. She also worked in the freezer, packing products in bags. Gervil estimates there were about 300 workers at the plant, mostly from the Philippines. Most lived close to the plant, as transportation to and from work was a challenge, with no public transportation.

Gervil mostly worked inside, but also spent some time on crab boats, “We put a lot of crabs in the pens— whole boat, a lot of crabs.”[4] Up to 3,000 pounds could be brought in on the boat. She has also worked processing herring, separating different kinds of herring into boxes based on the quality, or cutting the fish before being frozen. Gervil has worked at the plant for about six years, initially renewing her work permit, and then applying for permanent residency.

Butchering and Grading: Crab, Lobster, Oysters

Julie Mabana came to Canada in 2012 along with several other people recruited in the Philippines to work in Western Canada.[5] She worked at A&W, in hotel housekeeping in Edmonton, and then in housekeeping with the Calgary Stampede. While in Alberta, Julie received a call from a friend in PEI. Like Gervil, the friend told Julie that a fish-processing plant on the island was looking for workers, and the plant had a LMIA agreement.

Julie decided to move to PEI, and a company representative met her at the airport in Charlottetown. After settling in, and driving to Maine to re-enter Canada with a work permit, Julie began as a line worker at the plant, processing crabs. Julie described the process of “butchering” the crab: “We are taking the crabs into pieces…the legs will be processed for the blowing area. They are taking the meat from the legs of the crab. And then the body will be crushed so that they will extract the meat and then we will pack that.”[6]

Julie shifted to lobster when it was in season, and also worked grading oysters by size. It was a smaller plant—Julie estimates about 50 employees, both women and men, with over half coming from the Philippines, as well as some employees from Thailand. 

Hard Work, Good Work: Lobster and Mussels

Ruby Lubigan cared for her younger siblings as a child in Parañaque, Metro Manila, working in the local market cleaning oysters and mussels and selling plastic bags.[7] As an adult, Ruby worked in a manufacturing plant in Taiwan before coming to Canada in 2011. Like Gervil and Julie, Ruby also came to Canada after a friend suggested she apply for a position here. She initially declined as she was satisfied with her position in Taiwan. The friend encouraged her to send her resume. She did, and when the PEI-based seafood processing company offered her a position, she decided to accept it. She passed through Canadian immigration in China, on a stop-over between Taipei and Toronto, along with the other people in her group who were also employed by the same Canadian company through a LMIA.

As the work in PEI was seasonal, the initial contract was only for 6 months. It was a small plant that focused on lobster only. Ruby worked in both the “cook side” and the “raw side,” butchering lobster. She notes that, as a temporary worker, you work all around—wherever “they need workers, you go there.”[8]

After this first seasonal contract, Ruby decided to move to Borden, PEI, where she was able to obtain permanent employment in a mussel plant—35 hours a week, Monday to Friday. The employer also provided an apartment close to the plant. Ruby notes that other Filipino workers from the first plant moved to Alberta or Manitoba. One person began working in Neepawa Manitoba. Many people from the Philippines work in the local meat-processing plant there, where positions are not seasonal, and the plant is unionized.[9]

In Borden, Ruby worked in mussel production. “That’s hard work,” she notes, whether “you’re outside or inside the plant…it is hard work.”[10] Lifting the mussels – up to 30 kilograms at a time— and carrying them makes the work hard. Inside the plant, the mussels are cleaned and processed by machine, then graded on a conveyor belt, and then bagged and boxed. Workers wear gowns, aprons, and gloves to protect their skin and clothes, and have regular breaks. “And that’s what I’m really thankful [for] here in Canada. They really really follow the break times schedule…”[11]

Although conditions at this plant were good, Ruby decided to return to the plant where she was first employed, as it allowed her to work overtime hours and send money back to the Philippines. She would sometimes work until 1am, and then start again at 5am: “I’m good with that because, you know, it’s easy money.”[12] The long hours were related to the volume of the lobster catches, as they need to be processed quickly.

Beyond The Plant: Varied Work Experiences On The Island

Gervil continues to work in a processing plant, although the work is seasonal. She is also employed part time at a local store. She works as a cashier, slicing meat and making coffee for customers.

Julie worked at the plant for several years, enduring separation from her children in the Philippines. When she did return to the Philippines, she had a hard time finding work. She applied for positions with many companies, and was often asked in her interview if she was planning on going back to Canada. At the time, she was waiting for her permanent residency application to be processed, and was hoping to come back. She returned to Canada in 2023 when it was approved, this time with her children.

Support Work with Temporary Migrants on the Island

Shortly after arriving back in PEI, Julie began working with PEI Community Navigators, an organization that works with new residents in rural PEI, focusses on creating welcoming and inclusive communities.[13] She is the program coordinator for migrant worker support and is based in the Western PEI office, but works in all three regions of the province. Julie provides one-on-one support, and coordinates with employers or other agencies in instances where migrant workers may have issues to resolve. Her position revolves around “giving awareness for temporary foreign workers’ rights here in Canada.”[14]

Julie’s first case with the PEI navigators involved advocating for a woman employed as a nanny who was being abused by her employer. “She is working overtime without pay.” Julie coordinated with another support agency and they were able to help the person apply for an open work permit as a vulnerable worker. The application was approved.

Ruby began her application for permanent residency, through the Provincial Nominee Program, while working in seafood processing. After becoming a permanent resident, she returned to the Philippines to bring her daughter to Canada. Ruby continued working in the plants, and also had a few other jobs – as a school cleaner and a cook. In 2018, she decided to open her own business, and went to Holland College to study small business management. 

The Sari Sari Retail Store

Ruby’s business, the Sari Sari Retail Store, is a home-based business that sells international products, mostly from the Philippines, as well as prepared meals. The store sells a variety of packaged, canned, and frozen food, including noodles, condiments, snacks, sweets of various kinds—and frozen PEI seafood. Ruby cooks freshly-prepared meals in the kitchen at the back of the store, including spring rolls, pancit, chicken adobo, coconut chicken curry, pork sisig, pork siomai, and other foods. 

In addition to opening the store, Ruby also worked part time at a local bank, so she prepares the Sari Sari meals before and after her work at the bank. She looks after the store as well, after her bank shift. She also hired Oyeth, a recent immigrant from the Philippines, to work at the store during the day.

Oyeth (Dolores) Maranan grew up in the Philippines, mostly in Batangas.[15] She came to Canada in 2021, sponsored by her husband Gerry who had arrived earlier as a Temporary Foreign Worker. He worked in production, and then maintenance, at local seafood-processing plants. After two years, Gerry applied for permanent residency through the Provincial Nominee Program.

Oyeth has followed a different path from Julie, Ruby, and Gervil, as she arrived as a permanent resident, and did not begin her work life in Canada in a seafood processing plant. She started working full time shortly after arrival at the Sari Sari store, where her interview was conducted. 

In addition to serving customers, Oyeth also undertakes other store tasks, like checking the freezer temperatures every day. She enjoys working at the store. It reminds her of the store her mother owned in the Philippines that sold school supplies, toys, and gifts. It is a kind of community hub, although not in the same way as stores in the Philippines. “The only difference,” Oyeth notes, is that in the Philippines, there are “lots of people walking in the market…a lot of people walking downtown.” In rural PEI, the store is located on a highway and people arrive by car: “And you just have to wait for customers to come in.”[16] Oyeth also works part time in housekeeping at a local tourist accommodation.

Community Life

While the focus here has been on their work lives, all women also participate in various ways in their communities. Gervil sometimes goes to the local Legion on the weekends to hear live music – the only person from the Philippines. She is active in her local church choir, and has performed with her band at the Pinoy Fiesta, a local Filipino cultural festival with food, mingling, and music. Julie has also been active in her local church, has volunteered in home care activities, and has been active in helping to plan three versions of the Pinoy Fiesta since 2018. Ruby is an active volunteer in the community— with newcomers through the West Prince Community Navigators steering committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the local Chamber of Commerce; work that sometimes takes her to Charlottetown for events. As Oyeth notes in her interview, many Filipinos on the island also get together around basketball and other sports activities. The sense of community also extends to people in the Philippines in the ongoing creation of diasporic communities. This could include a temporary return to bring family members to Canada, sending funds to family in the Philippines, or staying in touch through social media. As Oyeth notes, her parents, brothers and sisters are still in the Philippines. “I don’t think they are planning to go to Canada or anywhere else in the world. Maybe just for travel purposes, vacation, but not for settling down.” Many people now have family in both countries, and sometimes elsewhere also.[17]

Conclusion

This blog has provided a window into the world of work for Filipino migrants and immigrants in Prince Edward Island. The four unique narratives all have a connection to fish and seafood processing plants on the western part of the island, and—directly or indirectly—to temporary foreign work. As Ruby notes in her interview, it can be hard work. It has also been part of the pathway to permanent residency and starting new lives with their families in Canada. The women are in different places in their work lives than when they first arrived. Gervil continues to work at a processing plant, while also working elsewhere in the community. Julie and Ruby have transitioned away from the plants, working in business and social services, while Oyeth continues at the Sari Sari store. All are with their families on the island, some after long separations from their children, and all contribute to their communities in various ways.