In Canada there is significant overhead for a FTE, When I used to be a contractor for my own corp I realised how much overhead the company has on top of just salary, health insurance, CPP, EI etc.., Also as a contractor it was a win for me because I can take dividends instead of salary and pay less taxes. I dont think easy to let go is a factor because they can layoff a FTE with two weeks pay and my contracts usually have similar clause to terminate my contract.