SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Immigration and investment in the NWT were touted in Europe by members of the Yellowknife business community at a string of job fairs and trade shows in Europe earlier this month.

CDETNO immigration and career officer Martin Bouchard, left, Iris Hamlyn of Det’on Cho Corporation, and CDETNO executive director attend the Destinations Canada job fair in Paris, France, last month. - photo courtesy of Anne-Christine Boudreau

The Conseil de developpement economiques des Territories du Nord-Ouest (CDETNO) joined with business representatives of several Yellowknife companies and organizations at events in France and Belgium from Nov. 19 to Dec. 6.

More than 75 employment vacancies from more than a dozen NWT companies, most based in Yellowknife, were pitched at the Destinations Canada job fair held in Paris, France, from Nov. 19 to 21, and Brussels, Belgium, on Nov. 23.

"It was really great," said CDETNO executive director Anne-Christine Boudreau, who attended alongside representatives from Det'on Cho Corporation and Northern Properties REIT.

France and Belgium have high unemployment rates and an educated, skilled workforce, and many were curious about work in the NWT, she said. Approximately 630 job-seekers expressed interest in working in the NWT, she said, adding the delegation gathered 340 resumes to bring back to the employers.

"We have talked with some of the employers who have been in the hiring process, so they are doing interviews right now," she said. "I know that one of the businesses at least has presented a job offer to one of the candidates."

In addition to seeking workers for NWT businesses, the job fair also gives employers an idea what competing regions are doing to lure staff to other parts of the country, Boudreau said.

Following the job fair, Boudreau joined Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines; Garth Wallbridge, president and CEO of the Deninu K'ue First Nation Development Corporation; and Energy North renewable energy specialist Jan Larsson in Lyon, France. The trade team attended the Classe-Export 2013 trade show, which ran from Nov. 25 to 28.

The group met with about 100 entrepreneurs, many of whom are working on projects in Canada, she said.

"We explained the potential of the NWT. The European market is not going well right now, so entrepreneurs see Canada as a place to invest," she said. "We'll do the follow-up, and maybe some discussions are going to open and some contacts are going to be signed, hopefully."

Wallbridge said the emerging Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, signed by the federal government on Oct. 18, attracted attention.

"The international trade between Canada and the European Union is ever increasing," he said. "It really opened my eyes to just how much interest there was over there to come and invest here, and in some cases to move here and work as well as be involved in business ventures."

The European Union represents the largest export destination and trading partner, and the elimination of a majority of tariffs with Canada being negotiated is on the minds of entrepreneurs in France, Wallbridge said.

Marie-Eve Duperré, economic development officer with CDETNO, returned to Paris following Classe-Export to attend Pollutech Horizons, a trade show focused on ecologically-sustainable industries and green infrastructure from Dec. 3 to 6.

She met with about 50 businesses working in various alternative energy and construction fields, such as biomass, water treatment, hydroelectric power and wind energy.

"It was to see what technology was out there and to see what might be applicable in the North," Boudreau said.

Duperré presented the NWT as a venue for testing new projects at the event. She is now preparing a report on the alternative technologies and architecture she learned about as a reference for Northern businesses and organizations.

"If anybody is interested, we'll share," Boudreau said.

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