Termination notice and severance pay in Canada
Statutory notice in Canada runs to a maximum of 8 weeks in the Canada Labour Code, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, with severance pay on top under the Code and in Ontario for longer-serving staff. But these are floors. Without a valid termination clause, a dismissed employee is usually owed common law reasonable notice, which is often many months.
Ontario adds job seeking leave during mass terminations
What happened
From 27 November 2025, Ontario employees who receive notice of a mass termination can take up to 3 days of unpaid, job-protected leave during the notice period to look for work. A mass termination means 50 or more employees at one establishment within 4 weeks.
What it means for you
If you plan a mass termination in Ontario with working notice, expect affected staff to take leave for interviews and training. The leave does not apply where an employee gets 25% or less of the required notice and the rest as termination pay.
Source: Government of Ontario. We check this page every week. Last checked .
Ending employment without cause in Canada creates up to three layers of obligation. The first is statutory notice, or pay in lieu, set by the employment standards law that applies: the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated employers, or the law of the province where the employee works. The second is statutory severance pay, which only some jurisdictions require: the Canada Labour Code after 12 months' service, and Ontario for employees with 5 or more years where the employer's global payroll is at least $2.5 million or 50 or more employees are severed in six months because of a closure. The third, and usually the largest, is common law reasonable notice. Outside Quebec, a court decides it case by case using the Bardal factors (the character of the employment, length of service, age, and the availability of similar work), and it is commonly far longer than the statutory minimum. A well-drafted termination clause can limit an employee to the statutory minimums, but courts read these clauses strictly. Dismissal for cause, which removes the obligation to give notice, needs serious misconduct; under Ontario's Act the test is wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned.
How much notice must I give under the Canada Labour Code?
After 3 consecutive months of continuous employment, a federally regulated employer must give at least 2 weeks' written notice or pay in lieu. From 3 years' service the minimum is 1 week per year: 3 weeks at 3 years, rising one week a year to 8 weeks at 8 years. Notice and pay in lieu can be combined.
Section 235 adds severance pay for employees with 12 consecutive months of continuous employment, unless they are dismissed for just cause: the greater of 2 days' regular wages per completed year of service or 5 days' regular wages. Non-unionised employees, other than managers, with 12 months of service can also complain of unjust dismissal under the Code.
How much notice must I give in Ontario?
Once an employee has 3 months' continuous service, Ontario's Employment Standards Act requires written notice, termination pay in lieu, or a mix: 1 week for under 1 year, 2 weeks for 1 to under 3 years, then 1 week per year of service up to 8 weeks at 8 years or more.
Ontario's notice is not owed where the employee is guilty of wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned. Poor performance that is accidental or unintentional is generally not wilful.
When is severance pay owed in Ontario?
Ontario severance pay is separate from notice. It is owed when an employee with 5 or more years' service has their employment severed and either the employer has a global payroll of at least $2.5 million or it severed 50 or more employees in a six-month period because all or part of the business permanently closed. It equals 1 week's regular wages per year of service, including part years, up to 26 weeks.
Because the payroll test is global, an Ontario subsidiary of a large international group will usually meet it even if its Canadian payroll is small.
What about British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec?
Each sets its own scale. British Columbia: 1 week after 3 months, 2 weeks after 12 months, and 3 weeks after 3 years plus 1 week per extra year, to 8 weeks. Alberta: 1 week after 90 days, 2 weeks from 2 years, 4 weeks from 4 years, 5 weeks from 6 years, 6 weeks from 8 years and 8 weeks from 10 years. Quebec has its own scale, rising with length of service, under the Act respecting labour standards; check the current figures with the CNESST before giving notice there.
These are statutory minimums only. In British Columbia and Alberta, common law reasonable notice can still apply on top of them unless a contract validly limits it, and in Quebec the Civil Code of Québec has its own requirement of reasonable notice for contracts of indeterminate term.
Why is common law reasonable notice usually higher?
Outside Quebec, an employee dismissed without cause is entitled to reasonable notice at common law unless their contract validly limits them to the statutory minimum. Courts set reasonable notice case by case using the Bardal factors: the character of the employment, length of service, age, and the availability of similar work. Awards are routinely several times the statutory figure, especially for senior and long-serving staff.
A termination clause that tries to limit an employee to the statutory minimum must comply fully with the applicable employment standards law, and courts read these clauses strictly against the employer. A clause that fails is void, and the employee falls back on common law notice.
What extra rules apply to group or mass terminations?
Terminating 50 or more employees triggers longer notice. Under the Canada Labour Code, 50 or more at one industrial establishment within 4 weeks needs at least 16 weeks' written notice to the federal government. In Ontario, 50 or more at one establishment within 4 weeks needs 8, 12 or 16 weeks' notice for 50 to 199, 200 to 499 and 500 or more employees. In British Columbia, 50 or more at one location within 2 months needs 8, 12 or 16 weeks for 50 to 100, 101 to 300 and 301 or more.
In Ontario, an employee who works only from home counts as working at an establishment for mass termination purposes. Since 27 November 2025, Ontario employees who get mass termination notice can take up to 3 days of unpaid job seeking leave during the notice period.
Hiring in Canada?
What Teamed handles for you when employment in Canada ends
A Canadian termination is priced by the contract signed on day one, so Teamed as the legal employer gets that part right first and then runs the exit itself: the correct statutory scale, any severance owed, and the notice to staff and government when numbers are large.
These sit with us
- Termination clauses drafted to the employment standards law that applies
- Statutory notice or pay in lieu calculated on the right provincial or federal scale
- Ontario severance pay eligibility and Canada Labour Code severance checked
- Group and mass termination notice handled where thresholds are met
You keep
The decision about the role, the budget and the day-to-day management of your people. We carry the employment duties that come with being the legal employer.
Statutory figures are the floor. Where a contract cannot limit notice, common law reasonable notice can still apply, and we raise that before a decision is taken, not after.
Key figures
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Canada Labour Code notice, section 230 | Written notice, pay in lieu at the regular rate for regular hours, or a combination, of at least: 2 weeks after 3 consecutive months of continuous employment; 3 weeks after 3 years; 4 weeks after 4 years; 5 weeks after 5 years; 6 weeks after 6 years; 7 weeks after 7 years; 8 weeks after 8 consecutive years. (source) |
| Canada Labour Code severance pay, section 235 | An employee with at least 12 consecutive months of continuous employment who is terminated other than for just cause is owed the greater of 2 days' regular wages for each completed year of service or 5 days' regular wages. (source) |
| Canada Labour Code group termination, section 212 | An employer terminating 50 or more employees at one industrial establishment, simultaneously or within any period of up to 4 weeks, must give written notice at least 16 weeks before the first termination, in addition to individual notice under section 230, with copies to the Minister, the Canada Employment Insurance Commission and any union. (source) |
| Federal unjust dismissal eligibility | Employees of federally regulated employers with at least 12 months of continuous employment with the same employer who are not covered by a collective agreement and are not managers (s. 167(3)) can make an unjust dismissal complaint through the Labour Program. (source) |
| Ontario notice of termination | For employees continuously employed at least 3 months: under 1 year, 1 week; 1 to under 3 years, 2 weeks; 3 to under 4 years, 3 weeks; 4 to under 5 years, 4 weeks; 5 to under 6 years, 5 weeks; 6 to under 7 years, 6 weeks; 7 to under 8 years, 7 weeks; 8 years or more, 8 weeks. (source) |
| Ontario wilful misconduct exemption | Notice and termination pay are not owed to an employee guilty of wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned by the employer. Poor work conduct that is accidental or unintentional is generally not considered wilful. (source) |
| Ontario severance pay eligibility | Owed where an employee with 5 or more years of employment has their employment severed and the employer has a global payroll of at least $2.5 million, or severed the employment of 50 or more employees in a six-month period because all or part of the business permanently closed. (source) |
| Ontario severance pay amount | Regular wages for a regular work week multiplied by completed years of employment plus completed months of an incomplete year divided by 12, to a maximum of 26 weeks' wages. (source) |
| Ontario mass termination notice | Where 50 or more employees at an establishment are terminated within a 4-week period, notice depends on the number terminated: 50 to 199, 8 weeks; 200 to 499, 12 weeks; 500 or more, 16 weeks. An employee's home counts as an establishment only if the employee works exclusively from home. (source) |
| Ontario job seeking leave, from 27 November 2025 | Employees who receive notice of a mass termination can take an unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 3 days during the notice period to look for work. It does not apply where the employee receives notice of 25% or less of the required period and termination pay for the rest. (source) |
| British Columbia compensation for length of service, section 63 | 1 week's wages after 3 consecutive months; 2 weeks' wages after 12 consecutive months; after 3 consecutive years, 3 weeks' wages plus 1 additional week for each additional year, to a maximum of 8 weeks. The liability can be discharged by equivalent written notice, a combination of notice and pay, or ends on just cause, retirement or resignation. (source) |
| British Columbia group termination, section 64 | Where 50 or more employees at a single location are terminated within any 2-month period, written group notice is required at least 8 weeks before the first termination for 50 to 100 employees, 12 weeks for 101 to 300, and 16 weeks for 301 or more. (source) |
| Alberta termination notice | More than 90 days but less than 2 years, 1 week; 2 to under 4 years, 2 weeks; 4 to under 6 years, 4 weeks; 6 to under 8 years, 5 weeks; 8 to under 10 years, 6 weeks; 10 years or more, 8 weeks. (source) |
Frequently asked questions
Is statutory notice all I have to pay when I let someone go?
Often not. Statutory notice is a minimum. Outside Quebec, unless the employment contract contains a valid termination clause limiting the employee to their statutory entitlements, they are owed common law reasonable notice, which a court sets using the Bardal factors and which is usually much longer.
Does Ontario severance pay replace notice?
No. Ontario severance pay is a separate entitlement paid on top of notice or termination pay. It applies only to employees with 5 or more years of service where the employer has a global payroll of at least $2.5 million, or severed 50 or more employees in six months because of a permanent closure.
Can I avoid notice by dismissing for cause?
Only for serious misconduct. Under Ontario's Act, notice is not owed for wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned. Poor performance that is accidental or unintentional generally does not qualify, and the common law standard for just cause is also demanding.
Which notice rules apply to a remote employee in another province?
The rules of the province where the employee performs the work, unless the employer is federally regulated, in which case the Canada Labour Code applies. In Ontario, an employee who works only from home is counted at an establishment for mass termination purposes.
Canada has fourteen sets of employment standards, one federal and one for each province and territory. When Teamed is your legal employer, we apply the right one for where each person works and update your contracts, policies and payroll as the law changes, so you never have to read a statute to stay compliant.
