10/13/2026
From Kitwe to Cabinet: The Inspiring Story of Rechie Valdez
The dream that started in a mining city
Rechie Valdez was born in 1980 in Kitwe, Zambia, a mining city in Africa's Copperbelt. Her parents were both overseas Filipino workers — her father an engineer, her mother a nurse. As a little girl, she didn't dream of Parliament. She wanted to be an artist and a basketball player.
In 1989, when she was nine, her family immigrated to Canada. They settled in Erin Mills in Mississauga, Ontario, with her younger brother. Like so many immigrant families, they started over.
Her father found work quickly. Her mother could not. Her nursing credentials from the Philippines and Zambia weren't recognized in Canada, so she had to go back to school while working to support the family. That experience would later shape her daughter's politics.
The Banker Who Baked
Rechie took a different path. She earned a computer science degree from the University of Windsor in 2003 and joined BMO. For more than 15 years she worked her way up — starting on customer-service phones and moving into corporate roles.
But she had another talent. Baking started as a hobby. A cake she made for her second child's first birthday got noticed. Soon neighbors were ordering macarons and wedding cakes.
In February 2020, she made a big decision. She left the bank to bake full time. She said she had "built a strong enough customer base."
She competed on Food Network's The Big Bake with a team called Bake to the Future, produced and hosted a talk show called Fearlessly Creative on Filipino TV, and organized charity basketball tournaments for children. She was building a community, not just a business.
The Seat in Mississauga
Then politics came calling. In 2021, the Liberal MP for Mississauga-Streetsville, Gagan Sikand, announced he would not run again. The Liberal Party chose Rechie as its candidate.
On September 20, 2021, she won. She became the first Filipina Canadian ever elected to Canada's Parliament.
She didn't forget where she came from. In her first speech in the House of Commons in April 2022, she spoke about Filipino immigrants like her mother, who came to Canada "to build a better life for families."
She pushed for pathways to permanent residency for foreign-trained workers and caregivers. In November 2022, she became chair of the Canada-Philippines Interparliamentary Group.
From Backbench to Cabinet
On July 26, 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his Cabinet. Rechie Valdez was sworn in as Minister of Small Business — the first minister dedicated to that portfolio in four years.
History was made. Rey Pagtakhan had served as a Filipino Canadian minister under Jean Chrétien in the 1990s and early 2000s, making him the first Filipino Canadian in Cabinet. Rechie was the second Filipino Canadian, and she was hailed as the first Filipina to ever hold a federal Cabinet job.
The girl born in Kitwe was now at the Cabinet table.
Her journey didn't stop there. When Mark Carney became prime minister in March 2025, he named her Chief Government Whip, the MP responsible for organizing the government's votes.
She held her seat in the April 2025 election with 51.5% of the vote. In May 2025, Prime Minister Carney appointed her as Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism — bringing her story full circle back to small business.
As of 2026, she holds both roles.
Rechie Valdez's story is a Canadian story: from Kitwe to Erin Mills, from a bank's call centre to a bakery, from a bakery to Parliament. It shows what happens when talent is given a chance — and what happens when a daughter remembers why her mother had to go back to school.
Photo courtesy of Rechie Valdez’s page
