Edrien (Eddie) A. Yalong was born in the Philippines and now lives in Jasper Place with his family. His entry point to Alberta and Canada in 2007 was Grande Prairie in Northern Alberta, where he had arranged to work as a hairdresser as a temporary foreign worker. He describes that journey in video clip #1, and relates how he adjusted to life in Northern Alberta and navigated the path to becoming a permanent resident with the help of his employer.
In video clip #2, Yalong covers a wide range of topics, ranging from the reasons why his family chose to move to Jasper Place, his appreciation for the diversity of the people and access to Filipino businesses in the area, the educational and career opportunities available to his family, and the character of his work in Redwater.
Eddie Yalong describes in the next clip the challenges of working in the oilfields, his reasons for working in instrumentation, the language barriers he’s faced, and his ways of supporting in the Philippines. He then expands on the reasons why he and others have had to leave the Philippines to work in other countries in video clip #4.
In closing, Yalong explains how he’s channelled his upbringing in a musical family into performing and creating TikTok videos. He sums up how he’s where he is with these words: “[I] just go with the adventure of life. The thing I know is I just close my eyes; next thing you know, I’m here. I never expected to be here, never thought I’d be speaking with you guys speaking in English. Never in my life.”
For more about the Temporary Foreign Workers Program and to access interviews with workers and their allies, visit the Alberta Labour History Institute’s page on Temporary Foreign Workers, Migrante Alberta, and JPCHP’s interview with Cynthia Palmaria.
