Keep Families Together Sunshine Coast

08/11/2026

🎉🎂 Happy Birthday to our hardworking Founder! Ilocana Ak

Thank you for your dedication, sacrifices, and countless hours spent helping and supporting our fellow workers here on the Sunshine Coast. ❤️

Your commitment to our community means so much to all of us. May you continue to inspire, bring people together, and make a difference.

Wishing you good health, happiness, and many more birthdays to come! 🥳🎈

Happy Birthday from your KFTSC family! ❤️

07/23/2026

New research from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) highlights an important reality: many jobs filled by Temporary Foreign Workers are the same jobs Canadian youth are least willing to take.

For rural communities like the Sunshine Coast, these workers help keep local businesses operating and essential services available.

Let’s continue working toward practical solutions that support our local economy while keeping families together.

❤️ Because behind every worker is a family.

Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), “Jobs filled by temporary foreign workers are the ones Canadian youth don’t want,” July 21, 2026.

CFIB
Restaurants Canada
John Henderson for Sechelt
Patrick Weiler
Randene Neill
Re-elect Silas White for Mayor of Gibsons

New CFIB research reveals that the jobs most commonly filled by TFWs are exactly the ones young Canadians are least willing to take

07/15/2026

https://youtu.be/CeP_GE4t6TI?si=hPAjHwmxzkv9fhiZ

John Hendersen, mayor the District of Sechelt, says that cuts to im...

05/16/2026

🇨🇦 The Government of Canada has opened public consultations for the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan.

This is an opportunity for workers, employers, families, and rural communities like the Sunshine Coast to share feedback on:

✔ Workforce retention
✔ Labour shortages
✔ Tourism and service sector needs
✔ Family stability
✔ Rural immigration pathways
✔ Regional economic sustainability

KFTSC encourages community participation to help ensure rural workforce realities are included in future immigration planning.

📅 Consultation open until June 30 2026

🔗 Official consultation:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/transparency/consultations/2026-consultations-immigration-levels.html

05/15/2026

📢 This survey is regarding the proposed changes to Express Entry program requirements and the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and how these changes may affect Temporary Foreign Workers and families on the Sunshine Coast.

Your participation will help support community awareness and ongoing advocacy discussions.

📝 Click here to participate in the survey:

https://forms-formulaires.alpha.canada.ca/en/id/cmnyzn0id00t1x3012c3ytb7d

OUR VOICE MATTERS – HELP SHAPE EXPRESS ENTRY 2026

The Government of Canada is officially seeking feedback on major Express Entry reforms for 2026. This is a rare, direct chance for us on the Sunshine Coast to tell IRCC that the current system needs to work for rural communities, not just big cities.

At Keep Families Together – Sunshine Coast (KFTSC), we are pushing for a system that values people, not just "high points."
What we are fighting for:

✅ Recognition of TEER 2–5 Occupations: Our retail, food service, and healthcare workers are the backbone of this Coast. They deserve a clear path to stay.

✅ Rural Reality: Points shouldn't be based on "big city" wages. We need a system that understands the cost of living and the lower wage scales in towns like Sechelt.

✅ Family First: We need strong support for family pathways like SOWP (Spousal Open Work Permits). A community is only strong when families can stay together!

✅ Contribution over Capital: It’s time to value real community contribution, not just a high-salary paycheck.

📅 DEADLINE: May 24, 2026
Your feedback takes less than 10 minutes but could change the future for many families in our community. Please click the link below, select the "Express Entry 2026" consultation, and make your voice heard.

👇 SUBMIT YOUR FEEDBACK HERE:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/transparency/consultations/2026-consultation-express-entry-reforms.html

05/12/2026

🇨🇦 STRONG FAMILIES. STRONG COMMUNITIES. STRONG COAST.

Many working families across the Sunshine Coast are now facing uncertainty following the January 21, 2025 changes to Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) eligibility.

Across Sechelt, Gibsons, and surrounding communities, workers in retail, hospitality, tourism, grocery, food service, and other essential sectors continue supporting local businesses and rural workforce stability every day.

These workers are not just employees.

They are:
✔ Neighbours
✔ Parents
✔ Taxpayers
✔ Long-term community members
✔ Part of the Sunshine Coast economy

KFTSC respectfully calls for:

🔹 Clear guidance for rural workers and families affected by recent SOWP changes
🔹 Recognition of essential rural service-sector occupations
🔹 Policies that support workforce stability and family unity in communities like the Sunshine Coast

Because when families are stable, communities are stronger.

📌 IRCC Eligibility Guidelines:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/special-instructions/spouses-dependent-children/eligibility.html

05/11/2026

🌷 Happy Mother’s Day from KFTSC 🇨🇦

Today, we celebrate the love, strength, and sacrifices of mothers in every family and every community.

At KFTSC, we recognize the many international families across the Sunshine Coast working hard to build stable and meaningful lives while contributing to our local community every day.

Behind every immigration journey is a real family:
A mother supporting her children.
A spouse helping build a future.
A family hoping to stay together and grow together.

This Mother’s Day, we honor all mothers, grandmothers, wives, and mother figures whose care and resilience keep families strong — both near and far from home.

Wishing everyone across the Sunshine Coast a peaceful, joyful, and meaningful Mother’s Day. 💐

05/05/2026

Thank you to the Government of British Columbia for opting in to these temporary measures—we recognize this as an important step.

However, a critical gap remains: it is not yet clear whether dependents are eligible under this program.

Our spouses are already working and contributing to the economy of the Sunshine Coast, and our children are enrolled in local schools and are part of this community. These are not temporary ties—these are families building their lives here.

Families would greatly benefit from clear guidance and certainty.

We appreciate your continued support and look forward to further clarification.

8 likes, 1 comment. "Estado ng TFWs at kanilang mga pamilya sa rural communities | OMNI News Filipino"

05/05/2026

🇨🇦Keep Families Together Sunshine Coast (KFTSC)

With recent federal movement toward faster permanent residency for workers already contributing in rural communities, this is a key moment for coordinated action.

We are calling on federal and provincial governments to address labour shortages and long-term workforce stability on the Sunshine Coast.

🇨🇦 Federal Priorities

🎯 Restore Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) eligibility for TEER 2 & 3 Supervisors (Food & Retail)
→ Reduce family separation
→ Improve retention in essential sectors

🔗 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/special-instructions/spouses-dependent-children/eligibility.html

🎯 Create permanent residency pathways for TEER 4 & 5 workers
→ Address rural labour shortages
→ Support a reimagined immigration system aligned with labour market realities and community contributions
→ Supported by findings from the HUMA Committee and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission brief

🔗https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/451/HUMA/Brief/BR13928895/br-external/CanadaEmploymentInsuranceCommission-e.pdf

🔗 https://www.ourcommons.ca/committees/en/HUMA/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=13196142

🎯 Expand the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) to include the Sunshine Coast
→ Provide a direct, community-driven pathway to permanent residency
→ Address persistent rural labour shortages
→ Ensure workers already living and contributing locally can stay long-term
→ Align with federal goals of regional immigration and rural economic development

🔗 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/rural-northern-immigration-pilot/community-interest.html

🏛️ Provincial Priorities (BC)

🎯 Strengthen BC PNP access for rural essential workers on the Sunshine Coast

→ Focus on key sectors: tourism, hospitality, food service, retail, and community services
→ Align selection with real labour shortages in rural communities
→ Ensure TEER 2–5 workers in essential roles have realistic pathways to retention and permanent residency

📢 Why This Matters

Essential workers are already sustaining our rural economy, especially in tourism and local services.

👉 They are not temporary — they are foundational to community stability.

💬 If workers are essential enough to build our communities, they are essential enough to keep their families together.

05/04/2026

🇨🇦 IRCC Update – May 4, 2026
Filling labour gaps by accelerating PR for 33,000 workers

Key Points:

* ✔ Canada will fast-track permanent residence (PR) for up to 33,000 workers in 2026–2027
* ✔ Focus is on smaller, rural, and remote communities facing labour shortages
* ✔ Applies to workers who:
* Have already applied for PR through programs like PNP, AIP, community pilots, caregiver, or AgriFood
* Have lived in smaller communities for 2+ years
* ✔ Priority is given to workers already contributing to local economies
* ✔ This is part of a one-time In-Canada Workers Initiative (Budget 2025)
* ✔ IRCC will process applications from existing PR inventory faster

⸻

Official News Release:
🔗 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2026/04/filling-labour-gaps-in-smaller-communities-by-accelerating-permanent-residence-for-33000-workers.html