Skip to content

Job fair helps employment seekers and businesses

Plenty of opportunities were provided by local businesses at the event

Offering applicants an opportunity to meet face-to-face with employers, the YMCA Employment Services held its Multi-Employer Job Fair at the Prince of Wales School on Pine Street on Saturday.  

“We tried to make it more personal,” said Hope Townson, Coordinator for the Thorold office, located at the Pine Street Plaza. 

While it was difficult to determine how many people attended in total, the school’s parking lot was full, and approximately 50 people had attended in the last hour, estimated Townson. The event had more than 2,000 media hits, as well, so she and Rick Boutin, Employment Coach for the Thorold office, were expecting a fair turnout. While the YMCA has hosted many job fairs throughout Niagara, this was the first one at this school. 

There were about 15 employers from the hotel Industry, such as Vintage Hotels, Holiday Inn Express and Stone Mill Inn. Retail outlets like 7-11, Foodland and Sobeys were present, in addition to restaurants like, Johnny Rocco’s, Cracker Jacks, Mick and Angelo’s, and fast food franchises like McDonalds and Tim Hortons, many of which were hiring for more than one location.

Health services like Bayshore Healthcare, CBI Home Health Care and Henry Schein of Canada were seeking PSWs, nursing assistants and caregivers.  

Sitel and Accenture, which are major call centres in Niagara, were also recruiting. Townson said all of the employers participating in the job fair do have jobs available and are not merely advertising. Anyone can drop into the Pine Plaza for job assistance if trying to obtain their first job, as well as others looking to find another job or change careers.