Calgary’s largest youth fair attracts thousands of jobseekers

Calgary’s Youth Hiring Fair 2023, the largest of its kind in the city, opened to a full house of youth aged 15 to 24 at Stampede Park Thursday.

This comes as Calgary’s unemployment rate stayed at 6.6 percent, according to StatsCan, the highest among cities in Canada.

But that’s not stopping dozens of youth from looking for work and dozens of employers who are looking to hire.

Thousands lined up in the sun to enter the Big Four Building and try their luck at landing a job.

One young job seeker, Gabriel Ting, told CityNews her generation has suffered the most due to the pandemic, and they are ready to bounce back to change society’s perception of Gen-Z.

“Our generation has been through COVID-19. Myself and so many other people I know are working so hard to try and find a job, and in this economy and in this climate, it’s just been so hard,” she said.

“I don’t think we’re lazy. I think we’re just victims of circumstances for sure.”

Another young jobseeker, Zachary Skinner, shares the same concerns as Ting.

“I think that most of us are really hard workers. We just got to find the right position for it. You got to find something you enjoy,” he said.

Many industries for youth to choose from

The annual youth hiring fair is an initiative by the City of Calgary’s Youth Employment Centre that provides young people with a chance to meet over 80 employers from various industries.

This includes food and hospitality, customer service, telecom, and emergency services such as police and the fire brigade, all under one roof.

With the province announcing the hiring of 100 new police officers in Calgary and Edmonton, the Calgary Police Service booth seemed to be one of the busiest ones at the fair.

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Job seeker James Paxton said he is all set to join the force to combat the crime in the city.

“There will be new jobs in police, so I want to apply and become a police officer,” Paxton said.

“I am young, and they need talent like me to keep Calgary safe, so why not me.”

While thousands showed up to experience the recruitment and hiring process at the job fair this year, some wonder if this can actually fill the gap between job seekers and the industry.

Tara Huxley, the Community Programs and Services Coordinator at the Youth Employment Centre, says its definitely worth a try.

“This can surely be a bridging gap. Many of these employers honestly know that they’re looking for 15 or 16 to 24-year-olds. And so some of those positions are entry-level positions,” she said.

“And if an employer is willing to invest and hire and coach young person and the young person wants to be invested in and wants to show up and learn and have the opportunity for jobs, then I think it can be a great partnership.”

Excitement and hope

Among the thousands of applicants at the fair, there were some nervous first-time job seekers with big hopes and even bigger dreams.

Seventeen-year-old student Adriana Chu shared her excitement with CityNews.

“I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m excited mostly to just hopefully find something to work, I mean some work for the summer. I feel like this is a good event for people to have job experiences and look for that,” she said.

Another young student who had brought his mom for moral support, Daniel Montan, said he was there just for the experience.

“I’m nervous. I’m not expecting anything but not I am gonna go for opportunities and see how it goes,” he said.

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The job fair not only gave youngsters the opportunity to apply for jobs at the company stalls, but some employers also conducted on-site interviews and hired people on the spot.

Some got lucky, others got hope.