A performance review in Canada is a formal evaluation where your employer assesses your work, results, progress and overall performance over a period of time.
There is no general legal requirement for Canadian employers to conduct routine performance reviews. However, reviews can become important if your employer later relies on alleged performance problems to place you on a performance improvement plan (PIP), discipline you or terminate your employment.
A bad performance review does not prove that you are a poor performer or automatically give your employer just cause to fire you without severance. If a review contains important inaccuracies, respond professionally in writing, keep supporting records and continue doing your job.
On This Page:
- 1. What Is a Performance Review?
- 2. Are Performance Reviews Mandatory?
- 3. What If You Get a Bad Review?
- 4. Performance Reviews vs. PIPs
- 5. Can You Be Fired After a Bad Review?
- 6. Disability, Discrimination & Retaliation
What Is a Performance Review?
A performance review is an employer’s assessment of how you have performed your job over a particular period.
A review can cover:
- Your work quality and productivity
- Sales or other performance targets
- Attendance and reliability
- Communication and teamwork
- Strengths and areas for improvement
- Goals for the next review period
- Eligibility for raises, bonuses or promotions
A performance review can be positive, negative or mixed. It can also become part of the employment record an employer relies on if a performance dispute develops later.
Are Performance Reviews Mandatory in Canada?
No. There is no general law requiring Canadian employers to give every employee an annual or regular performance review.
An employer can still have obligations under an employment contract, workplace policy or another binding agreement that provides for reviews.
The absence of regular reviews can also become relevant if an employer suddenly claims that a long-serving employee has serious performance problems despite years of positive feedback or no previous warnings.
Does your employer have to give you a good review if you meet your targets?
No. Employees do not have a general legal right to a particular performance rating simply because they disagree with the employer’s assessment.
However, objective records can be important if a negative review conflicts with your actual results. Keep documents showing completed targets, positive client feedback, previous reviews and other measurable achievements.
What Should You Do After a Bad Performance Review?
Take a bad performance review seriously, but don’t agree with allegations you believe are inaccurate.
A practical response should focus on the important facts:
- Read the review carefully. Identify specific statements you disagree with rather than reacting to the overall rating.
- Respond in writing. Correct significant inaccuracies professionally and explain why you disagree.
- Use evidence. Refer to previous reviews, emails, targets, sales figures or other records that support your position.
- Ask what is expected. If improvement is required, ask for clear and measurable expectations.
- Keep doing your job. A disagreement over your review is not a reason to stop cooperating with reasonable workplace directions.
- Keep copies. Preserve performance records and communications you are legally entitled to retain.
Do you have to sign a performance review?
Don’t assume that signing a performance review means the same thing in every workplace.
Some employers use a signature only to confirm that you received or discussed the review. Other documents may ask you to confirm agreement with what was written.
If you disagree with the review, ask what your signature means. Where appropriate, make clear in writing that you acknowledge receiving the document but do not agree with specific allegations.
Can you challenge an unfair performance review?
Yes, you can respond to an unfair review, although there is no general legal appeal process for ordinary performance ratings.
Follow any internal review or HR process that applies. More importantly, create your own written record if the employer’s version of events is materially wrong.
Is a Performance Review the Same as a Performance Improvement Plan?
No. A regular performance review evaluates your work, while a performance improvement plan usually identifies specific alleged deficiencies and sets requirements and deadlines for improvement.
A negative review can lead to a PIP, but the two documents serve different purposes. A PIP is normally more serious because it can include warnings about discipline or termination if the employer says your performance does not improve.
If your employer moves you from a negative review onto a formal plan, read our complete guide to performance improvement plans in Canada.
Does a bad review mean you are about to be put on a PIP?
No. A negative review does not automatically mean a PIP or termination is coming.
But if the review contains new allegations, unusually severe criticism or warnings about your job, treat it seriously and make sure your response is documented.
Can You Be Fired After a Bad Performance Review?
Yes, but a bad performance review does not automatically give your employer just cause to fire you without severance.
A non-unionized employer can end employment without cause for performance concerns if the termination is otherwise lawful and the employee receives the notice or compensation they are legally owed.
The situation is very different if the employer wants to claim termination for cause and deny common-law notice or severance. Ordinary dissatisfaction, one bad review or missing a target does not automatically meet that much higher standard.
Can poor performance eventually become just cause?
It can, but an employer relying on ongoing poor performance generally faces a much higher burden than simply producing a negative review.
For correctable performance problems, clear expectations, meaningful warnings and a genuine opportunity to improve can become critical. The employer also needs evidence that the employee continued to fall materially short of the required standard.
Read Fired for Poor Performance in Canada for the detailed rules on warnings, cause and severance.
Does a bad performance review reduce your severance?
No. A bad performance review does not automatically reduce your severance pay.
If your employer terminates you without cause, your notice or severance rights are determined by the applicable law, your employment contract and your circumstances—not simply by the rating on your last review.
If you are terminated after a negative review, don’t sign a release before having your severance package reviewed. You could be owed as much as 24 months’ pay.
What If Disability, Discrimination or Retaliation Affects Your Review?
An employer can manage legitimate performance concerns, but it cannot ignore human rights or punish you for exercising a legally protected workplace right.
Performance problems connected to a disability
If a disability or medical restriction is affecting your ability to meet a workplace requirement, raise the issue rather than allowing the employer to assume it is simply poor performance.
An employer that knows, or reasonably should know, that a protected disability is involved can have an obligation to address accommodation before treating disability-related limitations as an ordinary performance failure.
Learn more about the duty to accommodate in Canada.
Can a performance review be retaliation?
Yes, a negative review can form part of workplace retaliation if it is imposed because you exercised a right protected from reprisal.
For example, a sudden unsupported negative review after a protected complaint can be relevant evidence. Timing alone does not prove retaliation, and an employer can still address legitimate performance concerns for unrelated reasons.
See our guide to workplace retaliation in Canada.
Performance Reviews in Canada: Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer give me a bad performance review without warning?
Yes. There is no general rule requiring an employer to warn you before giving a negative review. However, the absence of previous concerns can become important if the employer later tries to claim longstanding poor performance as just cause for dismissal.
Should I write a rebuttal to a bad performance review?
Yes, if the review contains important factual inaccuracies. Keep the response professional, specific and supported by evidence rather than arguing over every minor criticism.
Can I be fired for disagreeing with my performance review?
You can professionally disagree with a performance review, but continue following reasonable workplace directions and doing your job. A respectful factual response is very different from refusing legitimate instructions or behaving insubordinately.
Should I quit after a bad performance review?
No—not simply because you received a negative review. Resigning can cause you to give up valuable severance rights if your employer was preparing to terminate you. Respond to the review, continue working and get advice if the situation is escalating.
Get Help With a Serious Performance Dispute
One negative review does not decide your legal rights. The bigger concern is what the employer does with it next.
Samfiru Tumarkin LLP helps non-unionized employees in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia respond to serious performance allegations, PIPs, cause allegations and termination disputes.
If your employer is building a performance record you believe is inaccurate, threatening termination or has already fired you, protect your documents and get advice before resigning or signing a release.