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Canada Employment Contract

Bennett Jones LLP

Ontario Court Confirms Temporary Lay-Off Clause Is Distinct From Termination Clause | Bennett Jones

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In Taylor v Salytics Inc., 2025 ONSC 3461 (Taylor), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice emphasized the importance of a substance-over-form analysis in the interpretation of employment agreements, concluding that a temporary...more

Bennett Jones LLP

No Common Employer Means No Class Action—Ontario Court of Appeal

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The Ontario Court of Appeal has concluded that a client's influence over a service provider's processes does not establish an employment relationship between the client and the service provider's employees. The plaintiffs in...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Attention Ontario Employers: Ontario Court of Appeal Upholds ESA Termination Clause in Bertsch v Datastealth Inc.

In a rare but significant “win” for employers, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that an employer can enforce a termination provision limiting an employee’s entitlements strictly to the minimum standards under the...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Termination Provisions and the Perils of Imprecise Drafting: Key Lessons from De Castro v Arista Homes Limited

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The Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in De Castro v Arista Homes Limited, 2025 ONCA 260 (De Castro) provides Ontario employers with yet another reminder about the importance of clear and concise drafting in...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Interprétation des dispositions relatives au licenciement : Approches distinctes des tribunaux de la Colombie-Britannique et de...

Aperçu - Il est de plus en plus difficile pour les employeurs de déterminer si les dispositions relatives au licenciement incluses dans leurs contrats d’emploi seraient jugées exécutoires advenant leur contestation devant...more

Bennett Jones LLP

BC Court of Appeal Confirms that the Duty of Honest Performance Does Not Extend to Pre-Contractual Dishonesty

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In Ocean Pacific Hotels Ltd. v Lee, 2025 BCCA 57, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia confirmed that the duty of honest performance in contract does not extend to pre-contractual negotiations....more

Bennett Jones LLP

An “Exacting Standard”: the Enforceability of Termination Clauses and the “At Any Time” Conundrum

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Baker v Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc. (Baker) is the latest decision in Ontario to conclude that a termination provision permitting an employer to terminate, without cause, “at any time” is contrary to the Employment Standards...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

British Columbia and Ontario: Two Diverging Approaches to Interpreting Termination Provisions

Overview - Employers increasingly face challenges regarding whether termination provisions in their employment agreements will be determined to be enforceable if challenged in court. As we continue to see increasing court...more

Stikeman Elliott LLP

The North American Trade Dispute: How to Manage Workplace Challenges for Canadian Employers

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As our readers will already be aware, since the new U.S. Administration took office on January 20, 2025, it has both proposed and implemented tariffs (the “U.S. Tariffs”) which have posed significant threats to the Canadian...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Droit de l’emploi au Canada : Changements récents et à venir

Au cours de la dernière année, des changements importants ont été apportés à la législation en matière d’emploi un peu partout au Canada. Des mises à jour législatives majeures ont notamment été effectuées en Ontario, en...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Key Employment Law Considerations for Canadian Businesses Impacted by Tariffs

As of this writing, the Trump administration has implemented a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods imported into the United States. Canadian governments at all levels are preparing relief programs for local businesses, but...more

Bennett Jones LLP

BC Court of Appeal Confirms “No hire” Clause Not Intended to Injure Employees

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In Latifi v The TDL Group Corp., 2025 BCCA 45, (Latifi) the BC Court of Appeal upheld the summary dismissal of a proposed class action against the Tim Hortons franchisor in Canada. The underlying dispute between the...more

Miller Canfield

Important Update on U.S. Tariffs Impacting Ontario Businesses

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The United States has announced the imposition of new tariffs on Canadian goods, effective immediately as of March 4, 2025. These tariffs include a 25% surcharge on a wide range of products imported from Canada....more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Human Rights Tribunal Dismisses Probationary Employee’s Discrimination Claim

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In Karim v. Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, 2024 HRTO 1231, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed a probationary employee’s claim that they were discriminated against with respect to employment because...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Finds Employer Repudiated Employment Agreement When it Failed to Pay Employee’s Contractual Severance

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In Timmins v. Artisan Cells, 2025 CanLII 2387, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice found, in an undefended claim, that the employers “by their correspondence and actions” repudiated the employee’s employment agreement when...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada: February 27, 2025 — Some Employees May Be Entitled to Paid Time Off to Vote

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The 2025 Ontario provincial election will take place on February 27, 2025. Voters will elect their Member of Provincial Parliament to represent them at Queen’s Park. In most of the province, polls are open on election day...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Appeal Court Dismisses Employer’s Appeal of $1.8 Million Damage Award to Retired VP

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In Boyer v. Callidus Capital Corporation, 2025 ONCA 79, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) dismissed the employer’s appeal of the motion judge’s order in Boyer v. Callidus, 2024 ONSC 20, discussed in detail here. The...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Employment Termination Clauses: Lessons From Singh v Clark Builders

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In a recent decision, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta upheld a freely negotiated termination clause with a sophisticated employee despite evolution to the employee’s role over the term of employment. The employee’s...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Sooner the Better: Employers in Canada Should Really Review Their Termination of Employment Clauses

A recent Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) decision signals a pressing need for Canadian employers to review and consider updating their contractual termination of employment provisions. Otherwise, employers are at risk of...more

Stikeman Elliott LLP

Hungry for Consideration in Employment Agreements: Are Peppercorns Off the Menu for Employers?

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In the recent decision of Sui v HungryPanda Tech Ltd., 2024 BCSC 1856 (“HungryPanda”), the Supreme Court of British Columbia invalidated a termination provision in an employment agreement by finding the employer had failed to...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court of Appeal Agrees “For Cause” Termination Provision Was Unenforceable Because it Did not Comply with ESA’s...

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Applying prior precedent, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) in Dufault v. Ignace (Township), 2024 ONCA 915, upheld the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s (OSCJ) finding that the “for cause” termination provision in an...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Ontario Court Reaffirms Importance of Clear and Compliant Language in Employment Agreements

In December 2024, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its highly anticipated decision in Dufault v. Ignace (Township). The three-judge panel determined that the “for cause” termination clause contained in the employee’s...more

Bennett Jones LLP

New Regulations Regarding the Hiring Process: Key Dates and Information for Ontario Employers

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Ontario has recently published regulations offering employers further details on the new amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) related to the hiring process....more

Bennett Jones LLP

Legal Precedent on Restrictive Covenants in Employment Agreements—A Case Study

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Employee restrictive covenants are often a contentious issue, especially when employees leave to form (or join) competing firms. A recent Alberta Court of King’s Bench decision, People Corporation v Quinn et al. (2024 ABKB...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Finds Termination Provisions Unenforceable and Awards Employee Punitive Damages

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Wilds v. 1959612 Ontario Inc., 2024 ONSC 3452, involves a wrongful dismissal action in which the employee brought a motion for summary judgment. The court found the termination provisions in her employment agreement were...more

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