Filipino community growing fast in small British Columbia city

Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada hosts oil and gas industries and has more than 28,000 residents. Its Filipino population rose by 75%. HANDOUT

The Filipino community is rapidly growing in Fort St. John, a northeastern city in British Columbia, Canada, reports CBC News.

Fort St. John hosts oil and gas industries and has more than 28,000 residents. Its Filipino population rose by 75%, from 680 people in 2016 to 1,190 in 2021, according to the latest census data from Statistics Canada.

The city has become one of the province’s most diverse cities over the past five years, with nearly 13 percent of people identifying as a “visible minority,” Statistics Canada’s term for non-Indigenous people of color.

Latin Americans grew by 100% from 60 to 120, South Asians by 82%, Koreans by 67%, Blacks by 11.5% and Southeast Asians by 10%.

Azel Solano, who moved to Fort St. John with her family last year, told CBC News that she chose it over major cities where most Filipinos live because “You can do as many jobs as you can … there’s a lot of development [in Fort St. John].”