Rolf Pablo used to have a Texas accent.

When he arrived from the Philippines last year, he had a long, lazy cowboy drawl.

Picked up from working for an American call centre in his home town of Manila, Pablo's accent seemed like a strange contradiction coming from a small-framed, eagerly smiling 22-year-old Filipino immigrant.

These days, Pablo has adopted a more indistinct Canadian dialect. He has been in the country for a little over a year, and the practice seems to have done him good.

Though Filipino is his native language, one can hardly tell. He is articulate and polite, with a congenial disposition and a friendly smile.

Behind his long, cluttered desk in the back offices of the Canadian Tire store, Pablo sits in his swivel chair and types at his computer.

Originally working on the retail floor, he has steadily risen the ranks at Canadian Tire. After receiving one promotion after another, he now "wears a bunch of different hats," Daniel Charlebois, the store's owner, said Wednesday.

"Sometimes I think he wonders if it was really a promotion," jokes Charlebois, who said Pablo is now in charge of advertising, human resources, training, and orientation.

Not only that, Pablo is also a computer technician, a back-up cashier and sometimes works on the retail floor.

"I think that's his favourite thing to do. Rolf loves interacting with people," said Charlebois.

Pablo is one of 22 Filipino immigrants who came to the Yukon last year to work for Canadian Tire. Charlebois said they are hard-working, dependable, and said that most, like Pablo, have "terrific potential."

He is hiring more foreign workers, again from the Philippines.

"The fact of that matter is, I couldn't run my business without them," said Charlebois.

Recently, at the local job fair, Charlebois was able to hire four or five people. He found this result very disappointing, even before one of the new employees quit after four days of work.

"We spend days training him, then he just walks away. As a manager, that is very, very frustrating."

The Filipino community is rapidly expanding in Whitehorse, and Charlebois said he chose to hire from the Philippines for that reason. Knowing they will have the housing and peer support they need is integral to the process, he said.

"We have a very strong support here. A vibrant, powerful community," he said. He's also grown close with his new employees, and Pablo refers to Charlebois and his wife, Joanne, as Mr. and Mrs. C.

"It has been such a privilege to work here," said Pablo, who said he's been learning constantly. "I've been given all these opportunities for advancement. I am so thankful," he said.

Pablos cites "basketball", "pool" and "surfing" as his interests.

A moment later, realizing his mistake, he corrected himself. "I mean Internet surfing," he said, with a laugh.

Pablo lives with his aunt in downtown Whitehorse, and with his wages he helps her financially, while also sending money home to support his younger brother's university education.

"Our community is growing and growing," said his aunt, Christina Nelson. Nelson works for the territorial Department of Community Services, and has been in Canada since August 1986.

"Filipinos love to party," she said, guessing that they have get-togethers at least once a week. "Everyone supports each other; it's like a big extended family."

When asked what the biggest obstacle for new immigrants' transition is, Nelson originally said, "culture shock" but then changed her mind. "The biggest difference between here and Manila? The weather!" she said.

Pablo echoes that sentiment. Before coming to Canada, he had never seen snow.

When he originally flew into Vancouver from his humid and sunny home, he had eight hours to explore downtown, and said he was very impressed with the city. Even so, his first impression of Whitehorse was that it's "like heaven."

"But then came the -40C weather," said Pablo, pretending to warm himself and grimacing.

Asked what other Canadian cities he would like to see, Pablo said he would like to visit Toronto because he likes the Toronto Raptors basketball team.

Diane Finley, the federal minister of Citizenship and Immigration, held a round-table discussion with local business owners who are utilizing foreign workers.

Wednesday's meeting was held right before the announcement about the new agreement between the territorial and federal governments on a streamlining of the immigration process.

Charlebois was at the meeting, as was Dean Terry, the manager of the local Tim Hortons outlets.

"Times are changing," said Terry, talking about the new Agreement for Canada-Yukon Cooperation on Immigration.

Terry noted the huge number of job vacancies in Whitehorse, and said he's optimistic that the process is becoming easier.

"(Finley) seems to me like she's doing an amazing job. She's trying to help the Yukon, and doing the right thing," he said.

Terry has had Filipino workers since March 2007, and is very pleased with their performance.

When he was first hiring foreign workers, Terry felt the process was inefficient, cumbersome and long.

"Let's face it. The system was broken," said Terry, noting that though he spent over a year recruiting workers, they would spend less time than that in Canada.

The length of their initial stay has now been extended to two years since then. Terry is hiring more Filipino workers.

The local Boston Pizza outlet is also exploring the foreign worker recruitment process, and is looking for Filipino employees to work in the kitchen.

"These last few years have been getting worse," said Gordon Clark, the owner. "We thought we would give this a try."

Though he has heard others' complaints about the lengthy process, Clark feels the process is satisfactory.

Charlebois, however, thinks the government could be doing more. At the discussion on Wednesday, he was hoping Finley was poised to announce an expedited process for hiring foreign workers, similar to an initiative recently undertaken in British Columbia.

However, that did not happen.

"It's still extremely lengthy and slow," he said, but also noted that the final result is "extremely rewarding."

He hypothesizes that the only reason he can get workers into the Yukon faster is his familiarity with the different steps and his experience with the required paperwork. An employer new to the process may have more trouble, he guessed.

Also announced yesterday was increased funding to support services, including Yukon College and the Association franco-yukonnaise. Through this funding, new immigrants will receive training and orientation to help their transition into their Canadian homes.

Pablo seems to be adjusting well, and said he loves his downtown Whitehorse home.

He is applying for permanent residency with the help of Charlebois and his wife, and hopes to live in Canada long-term.

He has expressed hopes to return to school, and wants to eventually bring his entire family to join him in the Yukon.

"I think they would love it over here," he said.