The economic turn down hit Canada too. Perhaps not quite as hard as in the United States, but nonetheless hard. One of the more interesting things coming out of it is how many Canadians have gone to work again - for themselves.

The rise in self-employment isnt necessarily explained away by significant job losses all over Canada. There was a recent study trying to figure it out and a lot of tracking was done. They say that the people who are working for themselves now arent the same people who lost their jobs in the recession. Most of the people in Canada who lost their jobs were in the manufacturing industry, and most of the people who became self-employed are in the service industry. Also, most people who were laid off found jobs a gain in a relatively short time. The study ended up not being able to solve the mystery but it did come away with a few ideas about what happened. One of the key reasons is that people are getting creative and creating their own employment opportunities whether it is in technology related services or otherwise. Another is an aging population who are still looking for things to do and thats a big portion of Canada. Theyve got a baby boomer population too, and those people at age 55 to 60 are far from ready to retire. Also there are certain sectors in Canada, like real estate, where workers are considered self-employed and if those sectors are soaring like the real estate market, that also fills in some answers.

Many people are simply trying to find any way of working for themselves preferring to set their own hours and their own terms for working, and Canadians are no different but they may be more resourceful if the numbers mean anything.

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