Blue Mountain Resort opens new hiring hub in Collingwood.
by Roger Klein // photography by Roger Klein
IN ONE OF THE MOST INTENSIVE SEASONAL HIRING sprees in the country, Blue Mountain’s recruiting drive for the upcoming ski season started in late September and will continue until the resort has hired the 1,400 hundred people it needs this year.
“There’s a job here for everyone and it’s a great experience,” says the resort’s manager of talent acquisition, Kristina Filman. Plus, she says, a job at Blue can turn into a career.
“I’ve been here for 20 years. If you talk to any manager at the resort, most people have been here for 10 years or longer and have worked their way up from somewhere.”
Blue Mountain Resort is by far the largest private employer in the region with nearly 2,000 workers during peak season. Filling all of the seasonal positions is a job in itself for a whole team of recruiters who are trying some new approaches to connect with people—“making it as easy as possible for anyone who wants a job to get the job,” says Filman. “We want to eliminate any barriers and have a more modern approach to hiring.”
For the first time ever, Blue is setting up shop in Collingwood with a new satellite office on Hurontario Street. It’s a hiring hub. “We want to have more of a community presence in Collingwood, it’s close to the high school and student population,” says Filman. “It’s also central for any locals who are on a bus route and don’t have private transportation.”
The new hub provides assistance and support to job seekers, including career coaching, advice, resume assistance if needed, and on-the-spot job interviews.
“We hire based on personality and desire to work, not necessarily experience,” says Filman.
Students typically make up a big part of the seasonal workforce at Blue, especially for weekend shifts. Ski and snowboard instructors can be as young as 15, lift operators must be at least 16 years old. But transportation can be a barrier to employment, especially for students, so the resort is making flexibility a priority.
“We hire them into a job that aligns with their ability to get here, so if their schedule is impacted by the public transportation schedule then we hire them into something that works for them or change our schedule to work with their timing,” says Filman.
Anyone who has pounded the pavement in search of a job, especially during an economic downturn, might wonder why an employer would be so accommodating. The reality is that the labour market has shifted dramatically in the past two years. The most recent data (Q2 2023) from Statistics Canada show there were 284,025 job vacancies in the province and more than a quarter of those vacancies remained unfilled for 120 days or more.
The province’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO) provides some insight into that statistic with their own data that show the number of workers 55 and older who are retiring increased sharply by 41.8 percent in 2022, after declining for two consecutive years.
Retirees have always played an important role at Blue Mountain and the resort provides an attractive social landscape to work. Retirees often gravitate towards roles as ambassadors, says Filman. “The market has changed so much that we have to adapt to what people are looking for, lifestyle needs. People want a lifestyle experience and they want to choose their experience, so we allow them to do that.”
Perks for those who can commit to working two to five shifts per week include a free ski pass and discounts at the resort. Younger applicants and their parents may be more interested in an opportunity for an apprenticeship or financial help with school tuition.
Like many businesses in the region, the resort will need to continue to rely on their foreign worker program, as well as the many international travellers, to fill the ranks over the winter. Providing housing options is also essential.
This past summer, Blue Mountain Resort’s president, Dan Skelton, approached The Blue Mountains town council with plans to build the resort’s first employee housing on Scenic Caves Road. The proposal would cost the company $40 million and feature 258 dorm-style rooms, 41 suites, plus common space.
Skelton explained to council that the resort is still growing and would like to see the project completed by 2026. “Three years from now, this needs to be in place,” says Skelton. “We have big development plans that will generate huge staffing needs.”
Job postings can be found at bluemountain.ca/jobs. Orientation and safety training for new employees begins in early December.
