The 2025 Kivalliq Trade Show is set for Sept. 22-24 in Rankin Inlet, and you can bet some of the bigger players will be using the event to recruit new employees and lay some groundwork for future development and expansion.
Kivalliq Trade Show Society president Robert Connelly said although exhibitors are there to promote their businesses, the vast majority are also using the platform for recruitment in order to let people know what their company is all about and what opportunities may exist for either subcontracting or employment.
He said one of two obvious examples that have had a measure of success with this approach is Agnico Eagle, because they bring in some of their staff who are specifically looking at employment opportunities.
"So, of course, for Agnico Eagle, it's self-serving in the sense that it helps recruit employees and fill needs at the company level, but it also helps them to meet their Inuit impact and benefits agreement targets for Inuit employment," said Connelly.
"So, they're actively recruiting and trying to create as much awareness across the board as possible for people who may want a job.
"Agnico Eagle never miss a community-based career fair, which gives them the opportunity to actively say OK, here's where you upload your resume — and if you need assistance in preparing resumes, here's the people who you need to go and see."
Connelly said another company using this approach during the past couple of years was Calm Air.
He said Calm Air used the Kivalliq Trade Show and its booth to really promote the pilot-training program that's been running in Rankin Inlet and meeting with great success.
"They used the Kivalliq Trade Show and their platform there to excellently promote the training for both Inuit and Nunavummiut in general to get into that training program, and they've had a huge amount of success with that. There are many people who have already completed the training and are now moving on to careers in aviation.
"This is another example of how business has really used the platform of the forum that exists in the Kivalliq Trade Show to ask 'How do we get more people interested in opportunities in aviation?' So, it's not just about promoting the company and saying, 'Hey, fly Calm Air,' because we all know that Calm Air is the only company that regularly services the Kivalliq region.
"So, it's going to have that visibility at these types of events, but, way bigger than that, is how do they, as a company, recruit and retain pilots, flight attendants, service crews, mechanics everything that you need to run an airline company — but do it in this environment. You can promote that program in Winnipeg all you want, but you want to be on the ground here in the Kivalliq with literally hundreds of delegates and thousands of people coming to the trade show to capture that next pilot, that next flight attendant or that next mechanic.
"And, who's to say that those recruitment efforts won't one day lead to the first Inuk head of Calm Air? Matching the right skill level and personality with the right opportunity and the right airline just might, one day, combine to reach heights yet to be obtained."
