Coaldale Chamber of Commerce welcome hundreds of area residents and students to Job Fair 2026

Posted on April 30, 2026 by Sunny South News

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

Hundreds of people came out with resumes in hand for the Coaldale Chamber Of Commerce Job Fair 2026.
The event took place April 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a new location this year – in the Shift Community Recreation Centre which is connected to Coaldale Prairie Winds Secondary School. 

“We’ve had great participation from the community. Having the buy-in from the school has been a great opportunity not only for the job fair but for the businesses as well,” said Colleen Van Raalte, executive director with the Coaldale Chamber of Commerce. “It provides businesses with things like brand exposure, if they are looking for employees, they’re tapping into a market that’s either ready to go into the workforce or thinking about it in the future.” 

Van Raalte noted the valuable opportunity for businesses participating, some of which were new this year, although numbers of participants remained about the same as the Chamber’s inaugural Job Fair in 2025. Some of the new businesses this year included Canada Border Services Agency, Kasko Cattle Ltd., and KCL Cattle Company Ltd.

“This is the first time that we’re hosting it in this venue with this context, with the students, so we’re really hoping to build on this event for the future so that we can create more opportunities for our businesses and also for the youth,” she said, noting the event also provided students with an opportunity to learn at a young age, how to engage with adults, how to look professional and be professional. 

For the first time, students in Grades 7-12 at Coaldale Prairie Winds Secondary School participated in the Job Fair.    

Vice-Principal Megan Leusink credited the Coaldale Chamber of Commerce for reaching out to the school to participate in the event. 

“We were really happy to be able to work together and have the opportunity for our students from Grades 7 to 12, go through the career fair and have a look at some of the possibilities that are out there,” said Leusink, noting jobs at local businesses, summer employment opportunities, and post secondary institutions that were on hand to share information. “It’s a great event to see them exploring what’s out there,” she added.   

Grade 8 student Parker Madsen was one of many students participating in the event, and said it offered “a lot of options” for adults and youth, and was a great opportunity to explore future careers.  

“I’d love to get a job just to make more money,” said Madsen. “I think this (job fair) is very helpful – it’s definitely helping a lot of people get jobs, which is great.” 

Van Raalte said they received some positive feedback about the event, but noted one area that both the public and students requested to see at next year’s Job Fair – trades and apprenticeship programs. 

“I’ve had several students come to me and they were disappointed that we had no representation from the trade industry,” said Van Raalte. “So we would love to see next year an increased involvement from those sectors because we feel that’s a very important sector to represent – not only as a chamber but also for the youth.” 

Van Raalte said they were really happy with the success of this year’s event and are looking to grow the annual Coaldale Chamber of Commerce Job Fair as a service for community members and for local businesses.