Filipina who was nearly deported gets Canadian permanent residency

Nearly deported last year, Evangeline Cayanan and her daughter McKenna Rose received Canadian permanent residency on humanitarian grounds. HANDOUT

Filipino temporary foreign worker Evangeline Cayanan, who was nearly deported last year, was finally given permanent residency by the Canadian government on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

The Canadian Border Services Agency was about to deport Cayanan in July 2022, but a campaign by community supporters and her lawyer halted the deportation.

She told news media that she “jumped for joy” at the news that her third bid for permanent residency status was successful.

Cayanan came to Canada in 2010 as a temporary foreign worker and became undocumented because she reported two employers for alleged abuse.

She raised her daughter on her own and became an activist, winning an award from the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights for her advocacy for health care access for the children of undocumented parents.

Cayanan applied to the federal government for leave to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

She has argued that in the Philippines, her daughter would not have access to health care services she currently gets in Canada. Her daughter is now 8 years old.

McKenna Rose has severe ADHD, and supporters fear that without the behavioral therapy she is receiving, and with the stress of being removed to the Philippines, her health will suffer.

Cayanab thanked the Filipino community and pledged to continue advocating for health care access and immigration justice.