Over 37,000 Canadians apply for jobs at CNE

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) will be back next month to carry on its over 100-year-old history, and thousands of Canadian youth are vying for job positions at the annual event.

More than 37,000 candidates have registered for the fair's annual hiring that will be held tomorrow, marking the most submissions in the CNE's history, according to a report from blogTO.

These applicants are vying for such job positions as gate attendants, info guides, midway staff, food handlers, cashiers and retail associates, according to the report.

This comes after the youth unemployment rate in Canada recently soared, and one expert pointed to workers from other countries coming to Canada as one of the reasons. In the current situation, even graduates with advanced degrees are struggling to find employment in Quebec.

More than 80% of CNE staff hired annually are between the ages of 14 and 29, according to the blogTO report.

While over 37,000 registered for the event, the CNE expects attendance at Wednesday's in-person job fair to be closer to 3,500 to 5,000, according to the report.

The CNE is one of Toronto's biggest annual fairs taking place at the Exhibition Place. Each year, the CNE puts on over two weeks of events, concerts, games, food and innovations exhibits.

The program began in 1920. 

Canada's unemployment rate

Meanwhile, Canada's unemployment rate will keep rising, Rishi Sondhi, an economist at TD, told the Montreal Gazette.

“The increase in the unemployment rate we’re seeing is not going away soon,” he said. “This will continue into next year, when economic growth picks up.”

That is the case because recent measures affecting the increasing unemployment rate will probably take time to have an effect, said Sondhi.

Last month, the Bank of Canada’s cut of interest rates gave the national employment market a boost, and markets are expecting another cut on Wednesday, according to the Montreal Gazette.