Can you be fired without warning in Canada?

The short answer is yes. Your employer can fire you without warning and for any reason in Canada.

As long as non-unionized employees are provided with a full severance package, companies ultimately have the right to determine which workers it wants to hire or let go.

When an employer terminates staff without cause, they are legally required to provide one of the following:

• Full severance pay: Companies must pay non-unionized employees compensation that covers the minimum amount required by a province’s legislation, and also satisfies their “full” severance pay (or common law). A proper termination package is calculated by looking at the individual’s age, length of service, position and other factors, and can be as much as 24 months’ pay.
• Working notice: An employer can choose to give workers advance warning, or “working notice” of the date they will lose their job. The employee must then continue working until the termination date. The working notice period must be calculated in the same way as a full severance package. For instance, a 53-year-old professional with nine years’ experience may be owed as much as 14 months’ notice of termination.
• Combination of severance and notice: A business can give a terminated employee a mix of both working notice and severance pay. For example, a 53-year-old professional with nine years’ experience can receive a combination of two months’ working notice, followed by 12 months’ severance pay, for a total of 14 months.

What happens if my employer doesn’t give me proper severance?

If your employer fails to give you the correct amount of full severance pay when they let you go, you have been wrongfully dismissed.

Our government and legal system has established rights for non-unionized employees when they are fired or laid off, which employers can’t ignore.

An employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can file a claim to secure compensation for you.

Since 2007, our team has successfully obtained millions of dollars for tens of thousands of non-unionized employees in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

Use Canada’s Severance Pay Calculator to get a better idea as to how much severance pay you may be entitled to.

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru shares some fast facts about wrongful dismissal on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Do I have to accept the company’s initial severance offer?

When you are let go from your job without warning, the company may give you a termination package.

This package will likely include an offer outlining an initial amount of compensation, along with a deadline to accept the offer by.

You don’t have to accept or sign back the severance offer by the employer’s deadline! 

Companies use these deadlines as a pressure tactic to force you to accept a severance package that is far below what you are actually owed by law.

Your employer can’t make you accept an offer before leaving a termination meeting or by an arbitrary deadline.

As long as you didn’t sign it and return it to your employer, you have two years from the moment you lose your job to pursue full severance pay.

LEARN MORE
• Severance pay for provincially regulated workers
• Federally regulated employees and severance
• What is a constructive dismissal?

Other considerations

There are other important things to keep in mind when you lose your job without warning in Canada:

• Fired for discriminatory reasons: While you can be let go without advance warning for any reason, your employer can’t fire you if the reason violates your human rights. These “protected grounds” include aspects like your age, gender, race, medical condition or religion. If you are fired for any of those reasons, you are owed human rights damages on top of your severance pay.
• Let go “for cause”: An employer can fire someone for cause only if they have engaged in serious misconduct or insubordination. This type of dismissal does not typically include instances where someone is late for work once or twice, made an honest mistake, had a bad performance review, missed a sales target, or was laid off for financial or economical reasons. If you are terminated for cause, you are likely still owed a full severance package – something an employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can ultimately determine.

Contact us

Don’t take your termination at face value. Before you accept the layoff or sign any termination documents, contact the experienced employment law team at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP for a full consultation on your rights in Ontario, Alberta, or B.C.

Our lawyers have extensive knowledge of how the law works in your favour when it comes to your workplace rights.

We work tirelessly to provide the public with this vital information through various initiatives, including our livestreams, Pocket Employment Lawyer, and the Employment Law Show.

As Canada’s most positively reviewed employment law firm, we’ll ensure you get the advice you need and the compensation you deserve.