A new Filipino restaurant in Neepawa is highlighting the town's rapidly growing newcomer population and the strong cultural ties shaping rural Manitoba.

Catherine Vego, who is from the Philippines and came to the Neepawa area in 2014, opened Vego's Home Pinoy Restaurant at the start of October, bringing a taste of her home country to the southwestern Manitoba town.

"I want them to feel like they're just in the Philippines," Vego said. "Everything that they miss.”

Neepawa has seen a dramatic demographic shift in recent years, led by Filipino newcomers. According to the 2021 Statistics Canada census , Neepawa had a total population of just under 5,700, more than half of whom — just over 2,900 people — were visible minorities. That included 2,600 who identified as Filipino .

That numbe

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