December 16, 2025 – Every journey starts with the first step and the FCC took that step on December 10 when the Vancouver City Council approved the Sim-Zhou motion promoting a Filipino cultural centre.
Finally, the decades-long dream of every Filipino in Vancouver to have a community centre they can call their own has become a reality.
The motion’s passage directs staff to prioritize the review of the Filipino Cultural Centre proposal at 1940 Main Street. It will initiate formal review and feasibility work, including staff analysis, regulatory scrutiny, public consultation and a public hearing.
For the first time in the last 50 years, the possibility of Filipino Community Centre (FCC) in Vancouver – mentioned by PM Mark Carney in his 2025 budget, supported by BC Premier David Eby’s government in 2023 through its Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport which conducted studies related to its establishment, and advanced by Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and Councillor Leny Zhou’s motion – the FCC has finally become a concrete project; no longer a mere topic for discussion and debate. It will be coordinated by newly organized Filipino Legacy Society and PortLiving, a long standing Vancouver real estate development firm.
After the Sim-Zhou motion’s approval, PortLiving CEO Tobi Reyes shared his joy with CFNet with this email:
“It was a historic day and I’m so proud to have a part in it. It was a great day for our diaspora and an example of leadership in our city and country.
“The first thing we need to do is continue the dialogue with everyone who doesn’t feel represented and try to be as unified as possible as a community behind this project. But while that is happening, we have been hard at work dealing with all the steps towards entitlement, refinancing, and development in general. We have lots to do and we will begin right away... after a small celebration.”
The CFNet, having closely monitored the development of a Filipino community centre in Vancouver over the years, is equally glad of this happy event and fully supports FLS and PortLiving in delivering a much needed community centre to a fast growing Filipino community in BC.
Sleazy history of past attempts to build a FCC in Vancouver
Like Filipinos in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Victoria, and other cities in Canada those in Vancouver also longed to have a community centre they can call home. Sadly, their early attempts to set up such a centre ended in outrage and disgrace years ago.
In 1978, a Filipino association headed by Ronaldo Butch Dulay raised $10,000 for such a centre. In 1990 another Filipino association headed by Rudy Viray raised another $15,000 for the centre. In 1994 the amount was turned over to the newly formed Philippine Community Centre Society (PCCS) headed by Oscar Tiu. Many Filipinos contributed to build their community centre so by the mid 1990s the PCCS had raised enough funds to acquire a 1.7 acre property in Surrey with a 7,500 sq ft building on it. A down payment of $250,000 was made from the PCCS funds and a loan obtained from a credit union.
In 1996 Oscar Tiu was replaced as PCCS president by Mars de la Cruz. Soon talks of alleged “financial irregularities” began when Mars moved into the building and made it his home. Another group headed by Pureza Brown tried to take over the PCCS from Mars which resulted in court cases between officers and members of the two groups reported Dave Fernandez of Mabuhay News, a weekly community paper. Sadly as of 2006, none of the court cases has been settled; nobody knew where the PCCS money went nor what happened to the property, and when Mars de la Cruz disappeared from the scene.
Hopeful future for a new FCC in BC
Today many Filipinos in BC are once again in the throes of building a community centre in Vancouver. If some of them are wary, it’s likely because they are aware of failed past attempts for such a centre. But with all three levels of government now supporting their desire to build a community centre in Vancouver, through the coordination of a committed and competent team of organizers and developer, this time their desire for a community centre of their own is about to come true.
In the last 20 years, PortLiving has considered plans for up to eight different sites for a Filipino cultural centre. Recently FLS and Vancouver-Kensington MLA Mable Elmore have joined PortLiving in the planning for the future FCC.
To set the record straight and assure the community of their dedication, Filipino Legacy Society issued this statement: “This has been a complex journey, and we are committed to transparency and answering any questions from the community and members of the public. Contact us through:
“The Filipino Legacy Society wants to create a cultural centre that is set up for success. To operate and provide quality services, including to our community’s most vulnerable, the centre must have a sustainable funding source. The hotel model is innovative and will provide critical operational funds for the Filipino Cultural Centre.
“We partnered with our developer PortLiving because of their long standing vision of building this project as early as 2009. Unfortunately, like many in the private sector, they were not immune to COVID-19 disruptions, including delays, restructuring, litigation and financial challenges. The developer has worked to ensure these issues are resolved, and we are confident this will not affect the project's delivery.”
If everything goes as currently planned by FLS and PortLiving, the site for the FCC at 1940 Main Street should be “shovel-ready” by early 2027.
Editor of Canadian Filipino Net
Eleanor R. Laquian has written four bestselling books and co-authored four others with her husband, Prod Laquian. Over ten years, she served in various capacities at the University of British Columbia’s Institute of Asian Research: as manager of administration and programs, editor and chair of the publications committee, and primary researcher of its Asian Immigration to Canada project.
She did her BA degree in journalism at Maryknoll College in the Philippines, a master’s degree in public administration at the University of the Philippines, and postgraduate studies at the School of Public Communications at Boston University in the US.
Before immigrating to Canada, she worked with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, and the UN Information Center. She was a researcher and bureau manager of The New York Times in Beijing, China from 1984 to 1990. She was the first and only Filipino to conduct a nationwide survey of Filipinos in Canada, in 1972, for her master’s thesis at UP. It was published as A Study of Filipino Immigrants in Canada, 1952–1972.
She updated the survey in 2005 for a book, co-authored with her husband Prod: Seeking a Better Life Abroad: A Study of Filipinos in Canada, 1957–2007,published by Anvil Publishing in Manila. She and Prod have visited over a hundred countries for work and pleasure. They immigrated to Canada in 1969.
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