Filipino-Canadian physician Michelle Ceniza brings health, parent perspective to Surrey school board race

ASM, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
October 10, 2026

Photo courtesy: City of Surrey

SURREY, British Columbia — For Dr. Michelle Ceniza, caring for young people has been a constant thread running through medicine, motherhood and community life.

Now, the Filipino-Canadian family physician is taking that experience into public education as she seeks a seat on the Surrey Board of Education in the October 17, 2026 municipal election.

Ceniza is an official candidate for school trustee under Surrey NOW, joining the party’s six-member school board slate. Surrey voters will elect six school trustees alongside one mayor and eight city councillors.

Her candidacy brings a perspective shaped by two settings that regularly intersect in the lives of young people: the doctor’s office and the classroom.

A family physician and mother of three, Ceniza has made the mental health and overall well-being of students and educators a central part of her campaign. Her official candidate profile says her work as a family doctor has exposed her to the pressures affecting both students and teachers, strengthening her belief that families, schools and health-care professionals need to work together if children are to thrive.

That connection between health and education is particularly important to Ceniza.

In her medical practice, she has encountered young people dealing with learning difficulties and mental-health challenges, experiences that have reinforced her support for early intervention and consistent assistance.

“Our youth need to be supported so that they can have the best chance at a great future,” Ceniza has said. “Early intervention and consistent support are very important.”

Her attention also extends to educators.

Ceniza has spoken about the workloads and workplace pressures teachers face and has framed support for teachers as part of supporting students themselves.

“I would like to advocate for our teachers as well, as they are important partners in our children’s futures,” she said.

From Cebu medicine to family practice in B.C.

Ceniza’s professional journey began in the Philippines.

Originally from Cebu, she earned her medical degree from the Cebu Institute of Medicine in 2003 and practiced in pediatrics before immigrating to Canada. After moving to British Columbia, she transitioned into family medicine and completed her Family Medicine training at the University of British Columbia. She now practices as a family physician in Langley.

Her medical work spans patients across different stages of life, from children to seniors, while her background in pediatrics continues to inform her interest in children’s health and development.

Ceniza immigrated to Canada with her family in 2009, rebuilding her professional path while raising three children.

That experience as both an immigrant professional and a parent has become another dimension of her school board campaign.

For Ceniza, education is not limited to academic performance. Her approach emphasizes the emotional, social and developmental needs of students while recognizing the roles played by parents, educators and health professionals.

A parent inside the school community

Her involvement with education has not come solely through medicine.

After spending years concentrating on her family and career, Ceniza returned to more active school and community involvement as a parent volunteer.

During the 2023-2024 school year, she served as vice-president of the Parent Association at St. John Paul II Academy. The school’s own newsletter lists Ceniza among the association’s executive members and documents the group’s involvement in school events and student activities.

Her experience inside the parent community gave her another view of the relationship among families, educators, and schools.

Ceniza has since made that partnership a central part of her candidacy: parents bringing their lived experience, teachers bringing educational expertise, and health professionals contributing knowledge about the physical and mental well-being of children.

Her campaign also emphasizes creating environments where young people can develop into capable and resilient adults.

An avid reader, Ceniza frequently promotes the idea that “Readers are Leaders,” reflecting her emphasis on literacy and lifelong learning. Her official City of Surrey candidate profile highlights reading as one of the values she brings into the trustee race.

Leadership that began in the Philippines

Leadership has also followed Ceniza across different stages of her life.

Before moving to Canada, she served in student leadership positions in the Philippines, including as student body president at St. Theresa’s College and class president during medical school. She later became president of the postgraduate interns at Perpetual Succour Hospital and served with the Pediatric Residents’ Association of Cebu.

Her path into electoral politics came much later.

After years devoted to medicine, raising a family and school volunteering, Ceniza is now presenting that combined experience as the foundation of her bid for public education governance.

Surrey NOW identifies her on its school board slate as a family physician and parent advocate, alongside five other trustee candidates. The party says its school board team is focused broadly on student well-being, education and stronger schools for Surrey families.

Ceniza’s own campaign places particular emphasis on ensuring students receive the support they need while teachers are respected as essential partners in their development.

Filipino-Canadian representation in Surrey

Ceniza’s candidacy has also gained attention within Surrey’s Filipino community.

In July, she joined fellow Filipino candidates Vanessa Gilera and Noemi Victorino at a Surrey community meet-and-greet focused on civic participation and Filipino-Canadian involvement in the 2026 local elections.

Community groups have subsequently highlighted Ceniza and Gilera as Pinay candidates seeking seats on the Surrey School Board.

For Ceniza, her Filipino roots form part of a broader story of starting again in Canada, completing new medical training, raising a family and eventually becoming involved in the institutions serving the next generation.

Her current medical practice likewise reflects that journey. Murrayville Family Practice Group identifies her as a Cebu Institute of Medicine graduate who practiced pediatrics in the Philippines before completing her Canadian family-medicine training at UBC.

Ceniza is now seeking to bring that combination of medicine, parenting and school-community experience to a board responsible for decisions affecting one of British Columbia’s largest public-school systems.

Surrey residents will vote on Saturday, October 17, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Advance voting will be available on October 7, 10, 14 and 15.

For Ceniza, the school board race represents another form of the work she has pursued throughout her career –  supporting children as they grow, but this time from the education governance table rather than the examination room.