Transgender job fair aims to help integrate trans people into workforce.
TORONTO — A Toronto transgender woman is holding a job fair geared toward transgender and gender-nonconforming people to try to spark systemic change in the Canadian workforce.
Biko Beauttah, who came to Canada as a refugee from Kenya 11 years ago, says transgender people often struggle to find work in conventional jobs and turn to things like 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 set up the job fair, Beauttah said 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.