The Prince Albert Grand Council Urban Services has been putting up the job fair twice a year for a couple of years now and their 2026 edition was held at the Urban Services Centre on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“What we are trying to do is create connections between employers and potential employees,” said Lorraine Parada, Labour Force Development Officer with Woodland Cree. “We have been doing this for a couple of years, and we do it twice a year in November and March (in Prince Albert) while we do one in La Ronge every year.”
Prada said there are several major issues that prevent people from finding jobs. One major issue, she said, was that Prince Albert residents didn’t know much about the services available at the Urban Services Centre.
“We can fund students to go to school, we also help people with the equipment to get on a job site like personal protective gear, we can also help people travel to a new job if they don’t have any money,” Prada said. “We can help in a variety of ways, so this fair is also to create awareness about the services that we offer.”
However, Prada was quick to point out that other factors affect unemployment, especially for youth. She said things like lack of tools or transportation can also be a challenge.
The Urban Services was able to pull together over 50 employers of labour from the province to interact with the prospective employees.
“Looking at the statistics this morning we have about the same as we had at the last job fair. I have not gone around to count them all but sadly some backed out at the last minute due to circumstances they cant control,” said Kevin Friesen, Partnership Coordinator, Urban Services PAGC. “But the biggest key to this is getting the employers and the job seekers together face to face. There has to be that connection. That’s what this is all about.”
Friesen hopes that this time around there will be more job seekers than there was last time. The last job fair had a record of 300 job seekers in attendance.
“Just before I got here for this interview, I met a young guy who is looking for a job, food service industry in the mining industry, so I took him to two of the companies present here and they had a meaningful discussion, so it’s about making that connection,” Friesen added.
Other employers and employees that couldn’t attend the fair can log on to the PAGC website to connect.
One of the service providers at the fair, Janice Unrau, General Manager, CANSAFE who also facilitated at the fair said it is an incredible experience.
“I don’t know what PAGC does to get people here but I have never been when this place has not been packed fully,” she said. “It’s been a perfect day. PAGC has done an amazing job of getting employers here but the youths need to come to know what is available here.”
She added that “95 per cent of the people who stopped at my booth this morning have one thing in common, they have no idea of what they want to do with their lives. I tell them that life is divided into two parts, it’s about knowing what you want and knowing what you don’t want. If you hate blood, don’t go to health services. If you hate heights, stay off masts, poles, rooftops and ladders. Choose areas of your strength.”
“I really want to give the credit of hosting this fair to my colleagues for their efforts and contributions in putting this together,” Vincent Brittain, Director for Urban Services PAGC. “It’s a lot of people that came together to do this and we greatly appreciate them for everything they have done. All we do here is just create the space for the employers and employees to connect.”
He also appreciated all the employers and service providers that attended the show. There were lots of free gift items given out to those who attended together with free lunch.
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