Thousands of people in search of work showed up at a Canadian National Exhibition job fair in Toronto on Wednesday, hopeful to land a position.
CNE officials said about 37,000 people registered to attend the job fair this year. The organization invited candidates to come in person to the Enercare Centre in Exhibition Place to apply for the seasonal jobs available, including gate attendants, information guides, midway staff, food handlers, cashiers and retail clerks.
Officials expected between 3,500 and 5,000 candidates to turn up. Out of the tens of thousands who applied, only 5,000 will get jobs at the CNE, which runs from Aug. 16 to Sept. 2.
CNE Association CEO Darrell Brown said he welcomes the interest in the job fair but finds the increase in the number of applicants from last year concerning. The CNE received more than 18,000 applications last year.
“I think it’s kind of a sad commentary on the lack of availability, particularly of youth employment, although we get applicants from all ages. But it’s also a good commentary on how much interest there is in working for the CNE,” Brown said.
Brown said the number of applications, about double that of last year, is “by virtue of what’s happening with the economy.”
According to Statistics Canada, the national unemployment rate for youth, aged 15 to 24, in June was 13.5 per cent. The rate is the highest it has been since September 2014, with the exceptions in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic.
In Ontario, the youth unemployment rate was 16.5 per cent in June.
More than 80 per cent of CNE staff is between the ages of 14 and 29.
About 37,000 candidates have applied for jobs at this year’s Canadian National Exhibition. The job fair was held on Wednesday morning, and as CBC’s Naama Weingarten reports, this is the most applicants the CNE has ever had.
Teens waiting in line told CBC Toronto they are feeling the pressure.
Jad Owaidah, 16, a job seeker, said it’s “crazy hard” to find a job.
“A lot of places won’t hire you if you don’t have experience and it’s very hard to get experience if they need experience for jobs. It’s kind of a loop and you get stuck in it,” he said.
“Before I got here, I was so confident. I’m here like half an hour early and then I walk in and see the line, like whoa, and then I get nervous. Pretty nervous, to be fair. It’s very tough.”
Jem Morcillo, 18, another job seeker, said she is looking for a seasonal position to make some money for university. She said when she saw the line, she thought it might be “impossible” to get a job.
Trying to find work has been difficult, she said.
“The competition was a lot because they wouldn’t even read my emails, wouldn’t even call back. I’ve had to apply maybe four more times and they still wouldn’t answer me.”
Mo Nigm, director of operations at San Francesco Foods, which has a booth at the CNE’s food building, said he knows what he is looking for in an applicant.
A good attitude matters, he said.
“Availability is number one, experience, and basically what they’re looking for. I like to ask them what they’re looking for in an employer and an environment, and then see it if kind of gels with what we do as well because we like to have good vibes but hard work as well,” Nigm said.