CanadaPinoys

It's always good to learn as much about the place you are migrating to. There are so many questions to ask, and it is helpful to get information and experiences from others who have gone through the same journey or are in the same boat as you are. You may have friends or relatives living in Canada, and they will be your best sources of first hand information and experience about Canada. Sometimes, you will need more up to date information, particularly on immigration application procedures and changes. The internet has opened up a whole new way for a broader audience to communicate and share information. Forums are helpful in getting you the information you are looking for, and it allows you to post questions to find the answers you are looking for.

Here are two forums that have an active community of Filipinos who are wanting to migrate to Canada, or are already living in Canada.

Pinoy to Canada - This forum is moderated by Filipinos living in Canada. The overall tone of the forum is positive and constructive. You will find a lot more details about how it is like in Canada (both the good and the not-so-good). Information is better organized so new members can find the topics they want to find out readily. For those with an iPhone, there is an "app" that can be downloaded so you can readily browse new information being posted. However, you cannot post via the iPhone (at least I have not figured it out at the time of writing this article.) A good bonus of this forum is that the administrators actually organize local eyeball (EB) meetings so you can get to meet your fellow kababayan.

PinoyExchange - This is a huge Filipino forum with a wide variety of topics. They have over 380,000 members and over 48 million posts. There are two places within the forum that talk about Canadian immigration and life in Canada: Filipinos Everywhere and Visas and Immigration. I've noticed that most members of this forum are based in the Philippines, while a few contributors are living in Canada. There is a lot of chatter back and forth between members. (Sometimes I find that there is too much back and forth with little added value to someone who is looking for specific information.) Information tends to be redundant.

Members like to provide moral support to each other which provides consolation and uplifts the spirits of other members.  Sometimes you will find the occasional black sheep with negative comments, or a newbie trying to promote their wares. A few of the members are mainstays on these threads. They are very active and vocal on these threads as they are all very eagerly waiting news and results of the immigration paperwork.

In my opinion, there are a few things that can improve the forum experience. First, when posting a comment, the forum forces you to read through an advertisement before it redirects you back to the thread. I can understand that this forum's bread and butter are the advertising sponsors, but too much of this can be annoying. I have been unable to get an instant email notification set up on the few threads that I want to monitor. Last, it would be good to have a forum moderator for specific topics. They can set up sticky posts that summarize the key information, so that new members do not have to read through over 500 pages of posts.