Dozens of people hoping to land a job waited for the doors to open at Northlands Expo Centre for Friday’s career fair. Hundreds of people attended the event, including many high school students.
Karla Zwicker has been hunting for employment since she was laid off in January.
“It’s rough, it really is,” she said. “Applying for work and looking for work is just like working full time. You get up in the morning and you’re on that computer … and you’re not getting paid for it.”
There were approximately 60 exhibitors at the event but Zwicker said there were more schools with booths than employers and she doesn’t have the money to go back to school.
“I’m pretty much one step away from being out on the streets.”
Zwicker believes the job hunt will only get tougher once Alberta’s minimum wage increase takes effect.
READ MORE: Reality check: Is a $15 minimum wage bad for the economy?
Alberta’s minimum wage will be one of the highest in the country starting Saturday as the NDP gets closer to its goal of raising the wage to $15 an hour by 2018.
READ MORE: Alberta’s minimum wage goes up to $12.20 on Saturday
Effective Saturday, Oct. 1, Alberta’s minimum wage will be raised by $1 an hour to $12.20 per hour.
Alberta’s human services minister said the increase will prevent people from having to use social services.
“Our goal is that one who is working full time doesn’t have to go to the food bank and rely on social services,” Irfan Sabir said. “They should be able to put food on the table and pay their rent.”
TIMELINE: Tracking the layoffs in Alberta’s oilpatch
In July, Alberta’s unemployment rate rose to 8.6 per cent which is the highest it’s been in 22 years.
Tyler Kailan has been looking for work for nearly four months. He went back to school to improve his chances.
“It’s pretty hard … There’s a lot of people trying to find a job, there’s so much competition so you really have to be up there.”
Chris Miller was working for a transport company for almost three years but lost his job when oil prices plummeted.
“It’s really rough. Constantly looking, constantly making resumes, taking extra training courses … still, just rough.”
“There’s too many people, not enough jobs, a lot of companies downsizing.”
Miller is starting to feel the pinch.
“I’m almost tempted to go work at a 7-11, even with a Class 1 (licence).”
The Alberta NDP’s last budget was focused on job creation, but critics have been quick to slam the government’s approach.
The Wildrose has said the plan, especially the carbon tax and corporate tax, would negatively impact Albertans already hurting because of the slumping economy.
READ MORE: Alberta government scraps tax credit job creation plan
The opposition criticized the tax credit job creation plan before the NDP scraped it.
Grant Hunter, jobs critic for the Opposition Wildrose, said the New Democrats could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had consulted the business community before announcing the plan rather than afterwards.
READ MORE: Which province lost the most jobs in July?
At the career fair Friday, Sabir said the province has cut the small business tax by 33 per cent.
The NDP said it is also restoring training programs for entrepreneurs and protecting a multi-billion-dollar tax advantage over other provinces.
“We recognize that these are tough times,” Sabir said. “There are opportunities out there and we are trying our best to connect Albertans with those opportunities.”
The career fair runs until 6 p.m. on Friday and continues all day Saturday.
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