Dollarama to build Calgary-area warehouse, increases store count goal

What’s going on at Dollarama?

Dollarama announced plans to build a 1.6 million square-foot warehouse and distribution centre in Balzac, a hamlet outside of Calgary.

The logistics hub will service Western Canada—easing the burden on the company’s facilities near Montreal.

“Up until now, we have relied on a centralized approach,” CEO Neil Rossy told analysts on Dec. 4.

“While our current operations have served us well, given our Western store base and future growth plans across the country, the time is right to put in motion plans to develop a two-node logistics operation.”

If Dollarama’s $46.7-million land purchase closes as planned, the new facility in Balzac is expected to be operational by the end of 2027.

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Hundreds of new stores on the horizon

In addition to buying land in Alberta for a new facility, Dollarama increased its store count goal.

By 2034, the retailer plans to have 2,200 locations across Canada—up from its prior goal of operating 2,000 stores by 2031.

Currently, Dollarama has more than 1,500 Canadian locations.

If you’re thinking about working for the company, here are a few things that non-unionized employees need to keep in mind.

Carefully review your new employment contract

Before starting a new job in Canada, it’s very likely that you will be asked to sign an employment contract.

In many cases, these agreements take away key protections that would otherwise be available to non-unionized workers in the province.

Your employer might attempt to limit your severance package to a few weeks’ pay, or add a clause that gives them the ability to make significant changes to your job.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Job changes in Alberta: What employees need to know
• Changes to your employment in B.C.: Your rights
• What Ontarians need to know about changes to their job

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains the five things workers need to know about employment contracts on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Once you receive an employment contract, take the time to carefully review it. Your boss can’t legally force you to accept it immediately or a few days after receiving it.

If you are unsure about anything in the agreement, contact an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

We can review the contract and ensure that your workplace rights are properly protected.

LEARN MORE
• Starting a new job? Here’s how an employment contract could limit your rights
• ’60 days or more’: Is it an enforceable termination clause?
• Employment Law Show: Things to never do before seeking legal counsel

You might have to complete a probationary period

Employment contracts often contain a “probation clause” that requires non-unionized employees to complete a probationary period when they start working for a new company.

If your employer doesn’t indicate the existence of a probationary period in your agreement, it won’t be considered “valid” or “in effect.”

While employees are usually put on probation for three months, it’s not uncommon for probationary periods to remain in effect for six months or more.

Fired during your probationary period?

If you are fired or let go before the probationary period ends, the company may still owe you a severance package.

Your entitlements depend on what you agreed to in the employment contract.

However, if you are terminated after a legitimate three-month probationary period, your employer is required to provide you with working notice or pay in lieu of notice (i.e. severance pay).

LEARN MORE
• Employment Law Show: Probationary periods and termination
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• Wrongful dismissal in Canada: Employee rights

Severance pay considerations

Before changing jobs, you need to consider future severance possibilities.

While a severance package in Canada can be as much as 24 months’ pay, compensation for non-unionized employees, including those at Dollarama, is calculated using several factors, including:

If you quit your current job, you may not be owed severance

In most cases, non-unionized workers don’t get a severance package if they resign from their position voluntarily to take up employment elsewhere.

Severance is designed to provide employees with financial support while they look for new work after being fired without cause or let go.

However, if you are forced to leave because of unwanted changes to your job, it’s very likely that you could treat it as a constructive dismissal.

In this situation, the law allows you to resign and pursue full severance pay.

If you believe that you’ve been constructively dismissed, don’t quit your job until you speak with an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Should I negotiate my own severance package in Alberta?
• Negotiating severance in B.C.: Leave it to a lawyer
• What Ontarians need to know about negotiating severance
• Employment Law Show: Things to never do before seeking legal counsel

Your length of service affects your severance entitlements

If you’re fired without cause or let go, a key factor in determining how much severance pay you are owed is your length of service.

• Example: If you worked for a company in Edmonton for 12 years and decide to take a new job in Calgary that you sought out on your own, you forfeit the severance entitlements you built up with your current employer. As a result, if you are fired without cause or let go shortly after joining the new business, you could receive very little compensation.

However, there are situations where short-service employees are owed significantly more severance pay than they realize.

If your employer fires you without cause, and you have only been with the company for three years or less, don’t accept your severance offer before contacting our firm.

As long as you didn’t sign the offer and send it back to your boss, you have two years from the date of your dismissal to pursue full severance pay.

We can review the offer and help you secure the compensation that you are legally entitled to.

SEE ALSO 
• I already accepted a severance package, what should I do?
• Do I have to look for a new job after getting fired?
• Employment Law Show: Facts about the termination process

Recruited by another company?

In some cases, non-unionized workers in Canada leave their current job after being actively recruited by another company.

If your new employer took documented steps to entice you to take up employment with them, this is known as inducement.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• What Albertans need to know about inducement
• Inducement in B.C.: What employees need to know
• Recruited by another company in Ontario: Employee rights

In the event that the company decides to terminate you shortly after pulling you away from your previous employer, the inducement should be taken into consideration when determining your severance entitlements.

• Example: One of your employer’s competitors entices you to leave your current job and come work for them instead. If you’re terminated shortly after making the switch, the recruiting company may be on the hook for enhanced severance pay because of the pressure it placed on you to leave your previous employer.

If this situation applies to you, don’t sign your severance offer until it’s been reviewed by a member of our team.

We can confirm that the inducement has been properly factored into your severance package and help you secure the compensation you deserve if it isn’t.

Workplace issue? Contact us

Since 2007, the experienced employment law team at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP has helped tens of thousands of non-unionized individuals resolve their workplace issues.

Whether you’re in Alberta, B.C., or Ontario, our lawyers can review your situation, enforce your rights, and ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve.

Disclaimer: The materials above are provided as general information about the rights of non-unionized employees in Canada. It is NOT specific to any one company and should NOT be read as suggesting any improper conduct on the part of any specific employer, or a relationship between Samfiru Tumarkin LLP and a specific employer.