Love knows no boundaries: Foreign brides go online to get their dream guy and to find financial freedom.

She’s looking for a husband. Someone between the age of 35 and 70. She says she’s a good cook and loves tennis. This is her message to you: “have faith, trust, and always believe … love moves in mysterious ways.”

This is just one of the Filipino women waiting to be met in cyber-space. She’s looking for love and a serious commitment. With long black hair, a heart shaped face and flawless olive skin, she’s one of the many faces of a mail-order bride.

The mail-order bride industry has existed for over thirty years. It started through magazines that offered to match women in developing countries with men from developed countries who are looking for love abroad through advertisements.

Despite its lack of public prominence, the industry continues to remain widely active today and the popularity of foreign brides coming to Canada is no exception.

In 2000, Canada was recognized as the “new frontier” for Filipino mail-order brides in a report by Status of Women Canada. In spite of the report, the mail-order bride industry remains largely unknown. While some view the mail-ordering industry as simply one alternative in the search for love, the reality is much different. For the women involved, entering into these marriages is about survival, says Joanne Vasquez, chairperson for the Philippine Women’s Centre of Quebec.

“Women are forced into these situations because of the conditions that they face. It’s an issue of forced migration, it’s not people meeting by chance,” says Vasquez.

Fiancés seek financial freedom

For many women in developing countries, it can be one of the few ways to escape economic crisis. The Philippines is currently the largest migrant nation in the world. More than 3,000 Filipinos leave the country every day to work in 192 countries and 70 per cent of these migrants are women, says Vasquez.

The reason for this mass migration is clear-cut: there are no domestic economic opportunities.

“The average Filipino is making less than $2 a day and that’s to provide for a family,” says Vasquez.

The mail-order bride industry functions as an underground service. As such, it is difficult to track how many mail-order brides currently live in Canada.

“It’s one of the big difficulties that we have, we just don’t know numbers,” says Jen Marchbank, a professor at Simon Frasier University, who has spent the last year researching the legislative issues surrounding mail-order brides in Canada.

Under current Canadian immigration law, mail-order brides apply for a spousal or partner visa, the same as any other spouse coming into Canada.        

“It would be completely unethical to stop someone coming into Canada and say “excuse me, how did you meet your spouse?” says Marchbank. 

In 2006, 45,280 spouses and partners entered Canada, according to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Website . However, the Philippine government estimates that 150,000 women left the Philippines as spouses or fiancées of foreigners between 1989 and 1998, according to the Status of Women Canada report.

Where there were once magazines, emerging technology has made it easier to get connected to women around the world. While it is impossible to measure whether more women are looking to become mail-order brides, an Internet search shows that the number of agencies looking to represent these women have increased, says Marchbank.

“When I started (researching) this business, there would be 100 sites online. Now you can’t count them,” she said.

“Cherry Blossoms” is one such organization. It started as one of the original magazines advertising hopeful foreign brides and now operates online. Their website boasts of over 75,000 active members on their homepage. As one of the oldest international match-making organizations, they state their service has brought more than 200,000 couples together through engagement or marriage since 1974.

While acting as a seemingly innocent online cupid, there’s also a profit to be made. The Status of Women Canada report states that in one case of an agency working with Cherry Blossoms in the United States, 1,000 men were paying $200 dollars to access the matchmaking service every month.

These margins for profit, created the potential for abuse and open the door to female trafficking, says Vasquez. Under Canadian law, there are no specific protections for mail-order brides, but it does currently prevent Canadian citizens from sponsoring a partner if they have been convicted of domestic violence or assault, says Warren Creates, certified specialist in immigration, citizenship and refugee law.

While legislation like this is useful, many cases of domestic abuse go unreported, says Vasquez .

However, what is still unclear is the type of men who avidly look for mail-order bride relationships. In 1988 , one study in the United States surveyed 206 men who were actively looking for mail-order brides. It found that many of the men entering these relationships had college educations, slightly above average incomes, but tended to have conservative views regarding gender roles, says Marchbank. She adds that the current picture of these men is unclear since there have been no recent studies on the topic. 

However, in understanding the women who choose to become mail-order brides, much can be lost if people choose to see these women as “passive victims” and ignore the inner strength it takes to become a foreign bride, says Marchbank.

“This is not some kind of passive act … to give up everything you have at home, go and marry someone who you’ve only maybe met a couple of times, that takes a lot of guts,” she says.

Cupid's commodity?

Part of the concern with the mail-order bride industry is the fact that these women are marketed as a commodity. Many mail-order bride websites and on-line agencies tend to promote Filipino women as being attractive, young, and good housewives, says Vasquez.

While impossible to control the marketing of these agencies, this image of Filipino women is encouraged in the Canadian market, she says.  It’s an image of Filipino’s that Canada should look to discourage and alter within its own borders - starting with the national Citizenship and Immigration’s Live-in caregiver program, says Vasquez .

While offered to various developing countries, 95.6 per cent of those participating in the program are from the Philippines. It is a figure that has increased from 70 per cent over the past 15 years.

The program offers those from developing countries the opportunity to come and work as a personal aide or live-in caregiver for 24 months over three years and then apply as a permanent resident. However, Vasquez says the program encourages the same stereotypical image of Filipinos which is being used to sell mail-order brides. 

The government says that the work permit is meant to provide opportunity.

 “(This permit) is by no means restricted or promoted solely for Filipino women. (It) is available to those looking to work as caregivers, and I don’t see any stereotypes with that,” says Karen Shadd, spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The job itself is also a concern for Vasquez. She says the long hours and expectations may push women into marrying Canadian men to ensure that they can apply to be permanent residents .

 “Many of the women who come in under the care program are forced to work long hours. 24-hour on-call work … working seven days but only getting paid for 40 hours. Canada dangles this carrot in their face for permanent residency,” Vasquez says.

As employees working in Canada, temporary workers are protected under provincial work laws. If an issue or concern arises, the employee is responsible for making a complaint, says Shadd.

But it can be difficult to find these Filipino voices. Forty voices of mail-order brides, from five different provinces, were heard in the report issued by Status of Women Canada. The report says that there are many more within the country, but are afraid to speak up. Part of the problem is the silence and the lack of public knowledge, says Vasquez.

 “It hasn’t reached the mainstream consciousness. Once it does then I think we’ll really be able to change this type of thinking and implement some change here in Canada,” she says.