The usual employer is a large firm or government. Just over half of Canadian workers still hold standard jobs. By 1993, nearly one quarter of all jobs in Canada provided less than 30 hours of work per week compared to 14 percent in 1975. However, the Federal Business Development Bank reports that one quarter of Canada's one million small businesses are owned and operated by people aged 18 to 29. It seems that energy and enthusiasm edge out experience as a prerequisite for successful entrepreneurship.
Flexibility is a key issue.
If a cross-country road show is planned, a temporary staff can be assembled in each city. Excluding farmers and fishers, fewer than one tenth of working Canadians are self-employed. The growth in non-standard employment has resulted from several interrelated structural factors. Workers with non-standard jobs do not usually participate in pension and benefit plans, which can add 25 to 30 percent to the bill for wages. It should be noted that not all non-standard jobs are bad jobs.