Transgender Job Fair Aims to Spark Change in Canadian Workforce

Potential employers lined up for Nov. 20 event include the Canadian Armed Forces, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Indigo.

A Toronto transgender woman is holding a job fair geared toward transgender and gender-nonconforming people in an effort to spark systemic change in the Canadian workforce.

Biko Beauttah, who came to Canada as a refugee from Kenya 11 years ago, says that transgender people often struggle to find work in conventional jobs and turn to things such as drug dealing and the sex trade.

She started Trans Workforce, an organization that is setting up next week’s job fair and supports the transgender community in Toronto. After multiple attempts to get the job fair up and running, Beauttah says she was able to set up the event with help from LGBTQ community groups.

“The idea came around based on my lived experience and my inability to find work despite having nine years of post-secondary education,” said Beauttah, a transgender woman who identifies as female.