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December 5, 2025
News
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A job fair hosted by TIES (The Immigrant Education Society) and held in collaboration with three other Calgary newcomer serving agencies, drew a huge crowd.
526 people turned out to the CNC (Calgary Newcomers Collaborative) Job Fair Dec. 4th at the TIES Westwinds location.
Numbers that don’t shock TIES Manager of Employment & Career Development Mayssoun Hniedi.
“This is not a job hunters' market at this moment,” Hniedi pointed out.
“We see that even the highly educated clients, who hold university degrees, along with strong English-language skills, are struggling to find jobs, and it’s taking them a long time than expected, even to secure entry-level jobs.”
“We’re finding that the job market is really competitive. It’s quite a struggle for our newcomer clients to break through and connect with employers.”
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Ada Amariwu was a lawyer back in Nigeria. She recently moved to Canada to be with her husband.
While she works on getting her legal licence here, she’s been working on getting a job — any job.
“I can’t count. It’s a lot,” she said about the number of applications she’s sent out.
“It’s definitely more than 50. I’m just at home, applying and applying.”
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“So far, it’s just on LinkedIn and online platforms. So that’s why it’s a good thing this event was organized. I’m able to meet recruiters and potential employers — face-to-face.”
“At the end of the day, even if I don’t get a job, I just want to meet people, friends,” she added.
“Network. That’s the aim.”
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That’s why Anna Matvienko, originally from Ukraine, was at the event as well.
She’s been in Canada three-and-a-half years, but just recently moved to Calgary from New Brunswick.
Her job experience is plentiful, with numerous years in the film industry, as a project manager and as an embroidery machine operator.
“A little bit of everything. I’m a Swiss Army Knife,” she said laughing.
But she too feels as if she’s starting from scratch. Still, she remains hopeful.
“As long as you communicate with more people, ask more questions, go to more job fairs — you understand more information. So hopefully that will be helpful.”
“Best of luck to me that I will find a job!”
Jobseekers aren’t the only ones struggling in this economy, employers are as well.
Despite the four newcomer agencies — TIES, Centre for Newcomers (CFN), Immigrant Services Calgary (ISC), Canadian Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA) — contacting a large number of employers, fewer than usual participated.
“We think that it is also a tough time for our employer partners,” Hniedi explained.
“With the tariffs, with the state of the economy, a lot of companies are downsizing, or they’re just changing the way they do business so that they can survive in this economy.”
Aerotek, an award-winning staffing agency in Calgary that recruits skilled-trades workers, was one of the employers at the event.
It agrees that the market is definitely competitive but added that there are still jobs out there.
“We’re always looking to widen our talent pool,” Account Recruiting Manager Taylor Trotter said.
“We have a lot of individuals who walk into our office, apply for positions online, but it’s always nice when we can get out into the community as well. Maybe see some people who we haven’t had a chance to speak with.”
That’s especially important when it comes to immigrants, recruiter Lesya Zilberova added.
“Newcomers are people we don’t have in the system already. They might not know how the job market works here. They might not know to bring their resume or how to go through the interview process.”
“100 per cent they bring different skills employers may be missing.”
Hniedi said that employment programs, and services, such as those at TIES and at our CNC partners, can help those newcomers.
They just have to reach out.
“Use the services that are available. Get the help. This help is free. We have employment experts who have employer connections who trust us.”
“Yes, it’s tough and it may take a little longer but we’re getting people employed and we’re doing the best we can to help them.”
TIES would like to thank our employer partners for their support in this important job fair.
Media RSVP, Interviews & Inquiries:
Tomasia DaSilva
Media and Relationship Strategist
Email: tomasiadasilva@immigrant-education.ca
Phone: 403-291-0002
Get involved with TIES on our social media platforms.
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