A career fair may help Canal Flats Canfor mill employees bounce back from the brink of a layoff.

The Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce (CVCC) in collaboration with Canfor is reaching out to the Canal Flats community by hosting a job fair between noon and 5 p.m. at the arena on Thursday, April 16th.

“The Canal Flats job fair is focused on Canfor employees,” said Susan Clovechok, CVCC executive director. “We started a workforce planning strategy at the beginning of this year, so it’s part of that process, and the Canfor job fair came up through discussions with their transition team — it’s about what can be done to help the affected employees in Canal Flats.”

The decision to focus on the Canal Flats community came quickly after Canfor announced 81 layoffs at the sawmill to their employees on February 5th.

“We’re going to be helping them find work,” said Clovechok. “There’s about 15 employers at that (career fair), as far as I know right now.”

The Canal Flats Arena is located at 4925 Burns Avenue, but this career fair is only open to job seekers who have been invited by Canfor in light of the upcoming staffing changes.