Not long ago, Casey McLaughlin was executive director of the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse, but earlier this month she found herself lining up with hundreds of others at a job fair in Ottawa, vying for a coveted position at a new Food Basics grocery store.

"I'm willing to go from being a boss to shelving vegetables because you have to pay the bills," she said. "It's really hard to find a job in Ottawa right now."

Nafisa Ijie also attended the job fair at a hotel in Barrhaven, despite having a master's degree and experience working as a business analyst in Nigeria and England.

"It's been very difficult getting a job, especially when you don't have the Canadian work experience. So you just have to start off somewhere," said Ijie, who arrived in Canada a little over a year ago.

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