Videos of another massive three-hour lineup for a job fair in Toronto are making rounds on social this week, as the trend of congested hiring events continues to dominate debates surrounding the city's competitive job market and Canada's unemployment rate. 

On Thursday, Oct. 12, clothing store chain Garage hosted its national hiring event at all of its retail locations, with the opportunity for prospective workers to meet with staff for on-the-spot interviews. 

A clip from one job fair taken at Toronto Eaton Centre shows a massive crowd of people forming a line at the store and snaking through the mall, with some hopeful job seekers even lining up as early as 6 a.m. 

Multiple similar videos of crowded job fairs in Ontario have emerged over the past few months, including ones hosted by McDonald's, Fortinos, Bath & Body Works, and Dufferin Mall. 

@aryananajafi1 #viral #fyp #trending #foryou #foryoupage #toronto #job #jobfair #jobfair2023 #garage ♬ original sound - aryana

"I got my first job at Garage through the job fair in 2018 and I did not have to wait in line like that. Just goes to show we are doomed," one person commented under the video. 

"I've applied literally everywhere even in cities I don't live in and still nothing. Ontario's doomed," another prospective worker chimed in. 

According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the unemployment rate in Toronto was 6.5 per cent as of September 2023, down from a peak of 8.6 per cent in July 2020. 

Full-time job losses in September mostly occurred in agriculture, natural resources, construction, manufacturing, the financial sector, education, and food services. 

Huge lineup of people looking for retail roles shows tough reality of Toronto job market https://t.co/aQBW5aVMgA #Toronto #TorontoJobs #TorontoJobMarket

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 6, 2023

A May 2023 report from Statistics Canada also found that there are no labour shortages for jobs that require high levels of education, suggesting that other factors, such as a mismatch in skills might be responsible for the number of empty positions. 

The report analyzed data between 2016 and 2022, and found that for jobs requiring a bachelor's degree or higher, there were always fewer jobs available than potential people to fill them. However, for positions that required only a high school diploma or less, the shortage of workers only started in the third quarter of 2021.