Most people dream of retirement with visions of midday golf rounds, winters in Florida, and finally tending to the backyard garden.

For more Yukoners, however, these dreams are being put off as more senior citizens take on jobs in the retail and service sectors.

Jocelyn Ouimet, 64, is a loving husband and grandfather of five who works at the local Wal-Mart store assembling model furniture and the store's shelving. He told the Star today he has been there for six years, since before the store actually opened, and loves the pace.

'I work 5:30-1:30 Monday to Friday, with weekends off,' he said. 'It's great for me, because I'm an early bird.'

A Canadian Federation of Independent Business report says in light of labour shortages, more Yukoners are hiring senior citizens to fill the gap.

'Increasingly, older workers are viewing retirement more as a transition to new and different challenges than as an abrupt end to their working careers,' reads the report by authors Janine Halbesma, Janice Storozuk and Heather Tilley.

The report found that more than 40 per cent of small businesses in the Yukon employ at least one worker over the age of 60. The data were compiled by e-mail survey, and 25 small businesses in the territory responded.

The Canada-wide trend has been recognized since the early 2000s, when baby boomers kept working longer than some expected.

In 2002, Statistics Canada surveyed those retirees who had returned to paid employment to ask why they had done so.

'Financial considerations were cited as the number one motivation, but by less than half of the respondents, (38 per cent),' reads the report. Other reasons include health, social interaction, family needs, opportunity to do something new, and spousal retirement plans, among others.

Ouimet said he applied to Wal-Mart because he was bored after retiring from his engine maintenance business.

'I saw an ad in the paper that this store was opening, and I thought, Hey! I could work there!' So I do this here,' he said, pointing to the desk set he was assembling.

No matter the seniors' reasons for seeking work, employers are lapping up this resource, especially in western Canada and the Yukon, where there are noted labour shortages and no mandatory retirement laws.

'Ninety per cent of firms cite experience and qualifications as particularly positive benefits of employing older workers,' reads the report.

Wal-Mart, for instance, benefits from Ouimet's skills as a former tradesperson, while he says he benefits from the manageable work load and easy tasks.

Halbesma said in her research, many small business owners said senior employees were notably loyal to the business.

'That is so valuable in this market, especially with staff retention concerns most business owners have,' she said.

Seniors 60 and older make up 12.7 per cent of the Yukon's total population, or 4,081 people out of a total 32,212 as of June 2007, said the Yukon Statistics Bureau's Gary Brown.

Ouimet said although he enjoys his work at Wal-Mart, he has plans to sell his house and live life on the open road.

We, my wife and I, we want to go all across Canada, from Newfoundland to B.C. Maybe we'll end up down in Arizona in the winter,' he said with a chuckle.

He said he doesn't know if he would take another job after his road trip, but might just start liking the idea of retirement.