In 1970, Merino immigrated to Canada, settling in Victoria in 1972. Here he soon became a prominent and active member in the arts community. He painted murals inside various public buildings, exhibited his paintings at local galleries, and was instrumental in the organization of exhibitions of local art.

In the 1990's, Luis Merino moved back to Mexico, but he returns to Victoria periodically to exhibit his lively and colourful paintings dominated by abstractions of the human form.