Tsawwassen Mills job fair fails to attract hoped-for job seekers

Hundreds of jobs remain unfilled after a soon-to-open mega-mall on Tsawwassen First Nation land failed to attract the number of job seekers it hoped for on Thursday.

Approximately 3,000 full- and part-time positions were up for grabs, but only an estimated 500 people showed up for the Tsawwassen Mills job fair held in South Delta.

"We were hoping for more," said Pierre Lemieux of Pepper Palace. "Ideally, obviously you'd want your team ready and set to go by now."

The mall, which will have 150 retail outlets, is slated to open on Oct. 5. Some of the 90 retailers at the job fair said they are concerned they won't have the staff they need hired in time for opening day.

But those who did attend said the job fair was a success.

"I've never seen anything like that before, usually when you go to a job interview you're really selling yourselves to them," said Surrey's Cashmere Ali. "It seems like here, they're selling themselves to you."

Job fair just one tool

Previously, Tsawwassen Mills held another job fair — in late June — at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Retailers said that job fair didn't meet expectations either because it attracted too few applicants.

They said it appears many people don't want to drive the distance to Tsawwassen for minimum wage positions.

A mall manager said he was confident all the positions will be filled by the time the project opens.

"The job fair is not the only one tool that they're using," said Mark Fenwick, general Manager of Tsawwassen Mills.

"They also have online applications, some of them will leverage their existing store networks."

Major retailers such as H&M, Saks OFF 5TH, and Nike Factory Store are just some of the anchor stores that have signed on with the mall.

With files from Kamil Karamali