By: Nonnette Bennett with reports from Canadian Immigrant Magazine
TORONTO, CANADA – Canadian Immigrant Magazine announced the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards of 2025 on 5 August 2025 that included Baguio born Khristine Cariño among immigrants who have helped in nation building.
As a civic and non-profit leader from Vancouver, Canada, Cariño helped immigrants by paving the way for new settlers to transition from isolation to impact.
In 2005, Khristine Cariño, PhD, arrived in Vancouver from the Philippines, a dentist and educator beginning a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Just as her academic career was taking off, she became a mother. With no extended family or community beyond her husband, she began to face a deep sense of isolation, stated the Cariño profile from Canadian Immigrant Magazine.
“The first 10 years were challenging. As I stayed home to care for my children, I became increasingly invisible,” Cariño said in the Canadian Immigrant Magazine interview.
And when she was ready to return to her academic career, she says she faced “the motherhood penalty and ageism.”
Instead of letting these setbacks stop her, she spent the next 10 years in Canada building what she needed most — community, said the magazine profile.
Pivoting from academia into non-profit leadership, Cariño found her civic voice at Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House, where she currently serves as community board chair, championing initiatives that foster belonging and economic inclusion. She is also a board director and past executive director of Mabuhay House Society, which has been instrumental in the initial stages of a new Filipino cultural centre in B.C. The centre promoted the Philippine culture among the migrants.
She founded Tech2Step to create pathways for women and then all newcomers to thrive through networking, mentorship and career development. She has motivated immigrant women from different countries to connect through the organization.
“I founded Tech2Step to connect people to opportunities in tech because I knew the weight of isolation with no professional network to lean on,” said Cariño to Canadian Immigrant. “It’s a community where newcomers can grow their networks, rebuild their confidence and be part of something that sees them, supports them, and grows with them as leaders in the making.” This was her way of getting the groups together and allowing them to find comfortable alliances.
During her own journey to making an impact — including launching East Van Kids STEM and becoming the first Filipino president of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology — Cariño has come to believes in the following guiding principles, “If no one saves you a seat, build your own table. If you feel invisible, become impossible to ignore. And it’s not enough to just belong — we must lead. When we lead, we don’t just rewrite our own stories, we help others find the to write theirs, too.”
“As immigrants, we don’t just build our own lives — we must shape our communities. Step forward, take your place and lift others along the way!” Cariño says.
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant awards on its 17th year is supported by Western Union, COSTI and Edward Jones and is the first and only national awards program that celebrates immigrant success from all parts of Canada, serving as role models for other newcomers choosing Canada as their home. There are two other Filipinos who received the recognition, Mike Borlongan and Rodolfo Lastimosa, Jr. both from Ontario, Canada.
“We are so proud to announce the recipients in the 17th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards, in partnership with Western Union,” said Sanjay Agnihotri, Publisher of Canadian Immigrant. “Sharing their stories is sharing the story of Canada – a nation built by brave individuals who leave everything they know behind to start fresh in a new land- and make it better as a result of their hard work and determination. We, at Canadian Immigrant magazine, are honoured to be a platform to celebrate their efforts and impact,” said Agnihotri in the article published online by Businesswire.com.
Head of Canada for Western Union Carl Pierce said, “We are proud to sponsor these prestigious awards, pay tribute to the contributions made by those that call our country their new home and support them as they seek to fulfil their aspirations.” He noted that the 175-year long history of Canda that connects people with their families and loved ones wherever they are and enabling them to build better lives is a mission where the diversity of communities is a strength.
The Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2025 were chosen after an extensive nomination, judging, shortlisting, and public online voting process. Hundreds of nominations were received from which 75 finalists were shortlisted by a diverse judging panel of past winners. More than 50,000 online votes were cast at canadianimmigrant.ca. The recipients were chosen based on a combination of votes and judges’ merit scores, according to businesswire.com.
Businesswire.com describes Canadian Immigrant as a national media platform to help immigrants succeed in Canada, with content, resources, and events on careers, education and settlement. The brand is the producer of cross-country Canadian Immigrant Fairs, IEP career path Wed Conference Series, and the Frist Generation podcast on the Torstar Podcast Network. Canadian immigrant is a division of Metroland Media Group, a dynamic media company with leading community and daily news sites, as well as innovative websites including save.ca, wonderlist.ca, and travelalerts.ca.
The major sponsor Western Union is described as a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. Western Union’s platform provides seamless cross-border flows and its leading global financial network bridges more than 200 countries and territories and over 130 currencies.
COSTI, another sponsor is a community based diverse social impact agency providing employment, educational, settlement and social services to all immigrant communities, new Canadians, and individuals in need of assistance. It is said to meet the needs of a diverse society since 1952. It operates from 18 locations in Toronto, York Region and the Region of Peel, it provides services in more than 60 languages. It helps over 39,000 individuals receive assistance.
The latest sponsor Edward Jones is an investment dealer which provides a range of investment products, services, and solutions to retail investors. They have more than 879 financial advisors in Canadian communities from coast-to-coast. It is a firm participating organization in the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The recognition is given every year to inspire immigrants to help in building and developing Canada. –Nonnette Bennett with reports from Canadian Immigrant Magazine
