Annual Banff ski hiring fair draws nearly 700 job seekers

An annual hiring fair in Banff attracted nearly 700 people from all around the globe eager to live the dream of working for the winter in the world-famous Canadian Rockies.

The Banff Ski Hiring Fair is an annual event that aims to fill about 300 ski hill jobs.

Michel Dufresne, the director of Banff's Job Resource Centre, summed up the appeal: "You get to be outside all day and ski on your time off," he said.

Dufresne says every year, hundreds of people, mainly in their 20s, descend on Banff in search of jobs at the hotels and ski resorts.

At this year's fair, about 300 jobs were up for grabs, including positions such as lift attendants, trail groomers, housekeepers and kitchen staff.

"The last couple of weeks we've had a new wave of people coming to look for work in the Bow Valley, and our office is filled every day with people looking for jobs in the ski resorts," said Dufresne.

"We tend to have a lot of people leaving the valley at the end of the summer, either they're returning home or to school, and then we have people coming and looking for the winter work."

Saskia Huepschle flew in from Germany specifically to attend the fair.

"I like the scenery. It looks beautiful. I like the people that I've met so far," she said. "And it's a lot of snow. We don't have this much snow in Germany."

Juan Giron recently made the trip out west from Ontario.

"This is a side of Canada that not a lot of people see, so it's really interesting," he said.

"And you get a chance to meet other people from around the world."