Hundreds of members of human rights organizations, migrant groups, and progressives gathered to condemn the visit of Ferdinand Marcos Jr to Canada on July 1–4.

Marcos Jr went to Canada for a four-day meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and various business leaders. Their agenda included expanding military cooperation under the Canada Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, investing in the mining of gold and critical minerals in the country, and selling out Filipino cheap labor.

On July 1, progressive groups held simultaneous protests at the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia; the Ottawa Sign at Byward Market, Ottawa; the Philippine Consulate in Calgary, Alberta; and at 160 Eglinton Ave, Toronto, Ontario.

On July 2, protests greeted the arrival of Marcos Jr and Carney at a Jollibee restaurant on Granville, Vancouver. The groups condemned the lack of jobs in the Philippines that forces Filipinos to move abroad. In addition, the groups slammed the extremely low wages Jollibee pays its workers.

On July 3, groups protested at the Philippine Consulate in Toronto. Simultaneously, Marcos Jr met with mining company B2Gold Corporation, which is notorious for human rights violations in the Philippines. B2Gold owns 40% of Filminera Resources Corporation, the company with the largest gold mining operations in the country, currently operating in the towns of Milagros, Uson, and Mobo in Masbate. B2Gold also owns the Philippine Gold Processing & Refining Corporation, which processes gold ore.f

On July 4, groups protested at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The groups called on fellow Filipinos and allies to join the protest on July 26, coinciding with Marcos Jr’s State of the Nation Address on July 27 in the Philippines. Aside from the designated protest areas, demonstrations greeted Marcos Jr wherever he went in Canada.

Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR)-Vancouver called Carney’s welcoming of Marcos Jr shameful, stating that it clearly shows the hypocrisy of the Canadian government.

“The Canadian government uses the language of defense, security, and human rights while deepening its military, political, and economic ties with a government notorious for human rights violations and relentless corruption,” explained Devon of CPSHR-Vancouver.

According to Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle–Dahlia, in order to extract the maximum profit from the Philippines, Carney wants to ensure that the Filipino people’s resistance against imperialist exploitation is crushed. The imperialists are heightening military friction against their rival nation, China, while working to make the Marcos regime more violent.

It added that under the “Status of Visiting Forces Agreement” (SOVFA), the Carney government sends Canadian soldiers to the Philippines to partner with the US in instigating war. By signing the “Statement of Intent on Strengthening Defence Cooperation” and the “Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement,” the two governments are building the foundation of a deeply interconnected system of surveillance and repression to protect their profits at all costs.

For decades, the Philippine government has relied on the remittances of overseas Filipino workers to prop up its weakening economy, Migrante Canada said. An estimated 500,000 Filipinos living in Canada regularly send money to their families. Based on the latest data, in the first ten months of 2025, remittances to the Philippines from overseas Filipinos reached US$29.2 billion, including those from Canada. More than US$1 billion, or 3.5% of remittances during that period, came from Canada.

Yet despite this, migrants in Canada face unstable immigration laws, a high cost of living, exploitation, trafficking, and family separation. This is exacerbated by the slow and complicated process of seeking assistance from the government regarding their situation.

The groups called on the Marcos Jr administration to protect the rights and welfare of Filipinos overseas and to create decent jobs in the Philippines so that they are not forced to migrate to survive.