This will come as little surprise to the average worker, but when it comes to employment across Canada it seems quantity is ruling over quality.

An analysis of the Canadian job market by CIBC World Markets shows “employment quality” – which is basically high-paying, full-time jobs - is down significantly from what can now be considered the heyday of the late 1980s.

CIBC says the biggest contributor is the growth of jobs in the low-to-mid wage industries as compared with higher-paying ones.

That is a problem not just for the average worker trying to make ends meet, but consumer spending that helps drive the economy as the pace of income growth slows.

“Simply put, all other things being equal, lower employment quality means that the labour market has to run faster to stay in the same place since we need relatively more workers to generate the same increase in income,” CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal says in a new report.

While Tal acknowledges job satisfaction and fulfillment are

It's the biggest job gain in more than a decade, which helped topush the unemployment rate down a percentage point to 7.1 per cent,Statistics Canada said Friday. 

"This is how one breaks out of a scoring slump," saidBMO Capital Markets chief economist Douglas Porter. 

The jump in May jobs comes after asoft start to the year. Including the May numbers, Porter notes the averagemonthly job gain so far in 2013 is 16,400 jobs, which is about 10,000 below thepace for the same period last year. 

Canada's economy added 12,500mostly full-time jobs in April, when the unemployment rate held steady at 7.2per cent.

"One should not read too muchinto the

Wal-Mart Canada introduces mobile stores inside 50 Toronto bus sheltersThere are only so many hours in a day so why not spend it shopping, especially while you're waiting for the bus? That's what Wal-Mart Canada and Procter & Gamble are hoping you'll do by launching mobile stores inside 50 Toronto bus shelters this week.

When it comes to e-commerce, it's a pretty clever idea and solid way of trying to offer extra value to consumers in a retail landscape that is expected to heat up fast.

Here's the idea: customers can use their mobile devices to scan posters with QR-codes at certain bus shelters to buy select items including Pantene shampoo, Pampers diapers and Tide detergent and have the goods delivered to their homes for free. The campaign will last four weeks.

Here's why it's a pretty good idea: Look around at any bus shelter or bus stop. Chances are a good chunk of people are surfing the Internet during this idle time anyway. The virtual stores are also featured in densely-populated, urban locations where shoppers wouldn't normally access a physical

I still remember the tie I got my Dad for Father’s day when I was eight. With big, messy swirls of fire-engine red, cotton-candy blue, and icing-sugar white, it looked like something out of a preschooler’s finger-painting session. I never did see him wear it.

You don’t have to make the same mistake I did, because Dad, in fact, does not want a tie — not even a nice one.

According to a new survey by ShopAtHome.com, a coupon and cash-back website, 30 per cent of dads would prefer a gift card over a traditional gift like sporting goods or a piece of clothing this Father’s Day (June 16). Seventeen per cent said they’d be happy with a simple greeting card.

By far the most coveted item on men’s wish list doesn’t come from a store at all. Rather, it’s the priceless gift of quality family time. Of the 1,825 respondents, 86 per cent said they want to spend the day with their family--with nearly 27 per cent specifying that this time together should be spent barbecuing.

Furthermore, the survey found

The map shows an aerial view of the city where the accident has taken place. Fire, police and ambulance are all on their way, dispatchers telling them where to go. Except the dispatchers are not simply talking to them via radio – the maps are displayed on tablet computers where hand-drawn arrows can indicate the best route. Even better, if the driver of a fire truck or a police car is aware of any problems with that route, they can draw their own lines and arrows suggesting alternatives, all of which can be seen by the dispatchers and other emergency response team members.

I got an opportunity to see this scenario played out earlier this week on two enormous screens in an auditorium at Toronto's new George Brown waterfront campus during the i-Canada Summit.

The event gathered government and private-sector firms who discussed how Canada can create “intelligent communities” that use technology more effectively. The demonstration I’ve just described was an example of where some of this

If chocolate were a headline, it has never tasted so delicious. People can't stop gobbling up the news this week that three companies are facing conspiracy charges over their alleged role in fixing chocolate prices in Canada.

Watchdog Competition Bureau of Canada said an investigation uncovered evidence suggesting Nestlé Canada Inc., Mars Canada Inc. and ITWAL Limited, a national network of independent wholesale distributors, conspired, agreed or arranged to fix prices of chocolate products here.

Three individuals were also charged: Robert Leonidas, former president of Nestlé Canada; Sandra Martinez, former president of confectionery for Nestlé Canada; and David Glenn Stevens, president and CEO of ITWAL.

Under the Competition Act it is a criminal offence for two or more competitors or potential competitors to conspire, agree or arrange to fix prices, allocate customers or restrict the output of a product.

Nestlé, known for Coffee Crisp and KitKat, and Mars, maker of M&M's and Snickers,

Feel like you aren’t getting enough praise from the boss for all of your hard work? Turns out the boss may disagree, especially those in Canada.

A new survey shows a huge gap in Canada between bosses who think they’re properly thanking their employees, and staff who say they’re receiving it.

Research commissioned by staffing services firm Accountemps shows 85 per cent of Canadian bosses feel they do an “adequate job” of thanking employees when they do good work on an assignment or project, while only 59 per cent of staff believe they get thanked enough.

Workers in Quebec feel most appreciated, the survey shows, with 70 per cent reporting enough praise from their manager. That compares with 63 per cent in B.C. and 55 per cent in Alberta. Workers in the Ontario felt the most under appreciated, with just 54 per cent saying the boss said thanks often enough.

"Everyone wants to feel like their on-the-job contributions are recognized and valued," said Greg Scileppi, president of Robert Half,

Regardless of one's income, good value for price matters. That's the finding of a recent survey that shows Canadian millionaires like to shop at Wal-Mart with the underlying message being: millionaires are just like you and me.

Like you and me, millionaires want to stretch those dollars on clothing and accessories, skin care and cosmetic brands, wine, champagne and beer, vehicles and computers, laptops and tablets, a survey this week by Ipsos Reid shows.

Probably like you and me, three quarters of the 175 millionaires (yes, it's a small sample size) interviewed shopped at Wal-Mart in the past 12 months, ahead of other major retailers in Canada such as The Bay and Sears.

What's clear is the survey is aimed at retail marketers trying to tap a customer that has $1 million or more in investable assets, excluding their home or personal possessions. It's also a pretty good little marketing tool for Wal-Mart as in, hey, Canadian consumer our products are such good value even millionaires prefer