SSS opens 2nd office in Canada

MANILA, Philippines -  State run Social Security System (SSS) has established a new office in Calgary, Canada to serve more overseas Filipino workers in the western part of the country.

SSS president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Dooc said the new foreign extension office, the second in Canada, is located at the office of the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary.

It was opened last June in line with the PCG Calgary’s celebration of Philippine Independence Day.

“Our Calgary office started its operations last month, initially as an extension office under the supervision of our representative in SSS Toronto,” Dooc said.

The SSS chief said the new office is expected to serve about 270,000 Filipinos in Alberta, British Columbia, and other western provinces of Canada. These include Filipino migrant workers and overseas Filipinos, and former Filipinos who are now Canadian citizens, with or without dual citizenship.

“We are expecting to reach more Filipinos for their continuing social security coverage under our programs with the opening of the new extension office in Calgary,” he said.

“Considering that the Filipino population in Canada now stands at more than 660,000 based on its latest census data, the newly-opened office will cater to the SSS needs of around 40 percent of our kababayans in the area. We are very thankful to the Consulate for sharing an office space for our operations,” he added.

Dooc said the remaining 60 percent of Filipinos in Canada will continue being served by the SSS Toronto foreign representative office.

According to the SSS, the space for the SSS Calgary office was provided through a memorandum of agreement between the SSS and the PCG.

The launching ceremony was highlighted by a ceremonial ribbon cutting, led by Social Security commissioners Gonzalo Duque and Anita Quitain, SSS Account Management Group senior vice president and International Operations Group officer-in-charge Judy Frances See, and PCG Consul General Julius Torres.

A program briefing for the Filipino communities in Alberta and British Columbia were also conducted by the SSS management team during their visit to Canada to encourage them to continue their SSS membership.

To date, Dooc said the SSS already has 23 foreign offices in top destination countries of Filipinos, with offices located within the premises of Philippine embassies, consulate general offices and overseas labor offices.