Here is an example of diversity recruiting you don’t see everyday. Gay Job Fairs are not new but there don’t seem to be too many of them online. Or maybe, I just don’t know where to look? Well, below is a snippet of an article detailing the first gay job fair in Toronto, Canada.

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Police departments, educational institutions, major retailers and the service industry are among dozens of employers participating in Toronto’s first job fair for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered workers today at the Primrose Hotel on Carlton St.

Kirsten Schmidt-Chamberlain, of the Rainbow Employment Network of Toronto, which is running the event, says the idea came from a similar fair in San Francisco four years ago. The rainbow network is particularly concerned about transgendered people – those who identify with the other gender – because they are the most marginalized in society, she says.

Employment and education are the ways to raise people’s status in the world, says Schmidt-Chamberlain, former manager of the Fred Victor Employment Resource Centre. The event runs from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Tracy Ford, spokesperson for the Delta Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard St. W., which is a member of the Gay/Lesbian Chamber of Commerce of Canada, says the hotel is “an equal opportunity employer.” With 1,590 guest rooms and 780 employees, it is the country’s largest hotel, she says.

“We think outside the box. We look beyond colleges and universities, although we definitely take part in those jobs fairs, too.”

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