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The article discusses issues relating to the Canadian minimum wage, with over a million Canadians working for minimum wages or less, amounting to about 45 percent of average Canadian hourly earnings. Topics discussed include 2014 minimum wage to be worth about 25 percent less than in the mid-1970s, need to have two to three part-time jobs to cover basic food and shelter expenses, and profile of minimum-wage earner. It also mentions that Corporate Canada opposes an increase in minimum wages. INSETS: MEASURING DOWN;MCWAGES;A TALE OF TWO RETAILERS.

The article discusses the increase in the number of self-employed Canadian workers. Topics discussed include views on the increase such as improving economy giving confidence for some to become their own boss, reluctance of some employers to make permanent hires, and sale of skills as individuals after exhausting Employment Insurance benefits and savings, benefits like financial rewards and disadvantages such as financial risk of self-employment, and no legal minimum wage for self-employed.