Red Deer Regional Economic Development (RDRED) and Central Alberta Economic Partnership (CAEP) are fine-tuning their plans for a labour recruitment trip to Ontario this fall.

Both organizations attended The National Job Fair and Training Expo in Toronto last year, and have committed to return for this year’s event on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. But rather than set up separate exhibits, as they did in 2007, they will combine resources at one display.

“When you’re partnering with CAEP, which is 42 communities, and Red Deer Regional Economic Development, it’s a nice collaborative effort,” said Cyril Cooper, Red Deer’s economic development officer.

RDRED is a partnership involving the City of Red Deer, Red Deer County, the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce and Red Deer College, while CAEP is a regional economic development alliance of Central Alberta communities.

In addition to RDRED and CAEP, the Central Alberta delegation will include B & M Recruitment Solutions.

It will represent the interests of individual employers that register with it, providing them with resumes collected at the job fair, or even recruiting, screening, interviewing and reference-checking job candidates for them.

Employers can also attend the job fair and entice prospective employees with their own displays, said Cooper.

The deadline for registration with B & M Recruitment Solutions is Sept. 19, with early-bird rates available until July 15.

Last year, Red Deer was one of six large Alberta cities at the Toronto job fair.

“We had the Alberta recruitment zone,” said Cooper.

He’s speaking with officials from other municipalities to see if a similar combined front can be organized.

Additional information about The National Job Fair and Training Expo can be found online at www.thenationaljobfair.com. B & M Recruitment Solutions can be contacted by calling Brad Pallister at 1-866-522-2636 or e-mailing him at brad@bmrecruiting.com.