Suncor sells wind, solar assets to Canadian Utilities Limited: Employee rights

Suncor Energy Inc. has reached a deal to sell its wind and solar assets to Canadian Utilities Limited, an ATCO company, for $730 million.

In a news release on October 5, 2022, the Calgary-based integrated energy company said the sale will include its Magrath, Chin Chute and Forty Mile wind farms in Alberta as well as its Adelaide wind farm in Ontario.

The company’s Forty Mile wind farm is expected to be operating by the end of the year.

“Divesting of these wind and solar assets further streamlines our portfolio so that we can concentrate our efforts on our core business,” Kris Smith, Suncor’s Interim President and CEO, said in the release.

Striving to be net-zero by 2050, the company added that the sale will allow it to focus on growth areas, including hydrogen and renewable fuels.

While adjustments to the purchase price could still take place, the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 if it receives regulatory approval.

SEE ALSO
• If Suncor sells Petro-Canada, what rights do employees have?
• Telus buys LifeWorks for $2.9 billion: Employee rights
• Barry Sherman’s drug company Apotex bought by SK Capital: Employee rights

Who pays severance if Canadian Utilities Limited doesn’t want to keep certain Suncor employees?

If the sale of Suncor’s wind and solar assets to Canadian Utilities Limited results in you losing your job, then Suncor must provide you with full severance pay.

In Canada, the seller of the business is responsible for providing proper compensation to affected staff.

If you do receive an employment offer from Canadian Utilities Limited, and have a good reason for why you don’t want to accept it (i.e. different hours or pay), you can still get full severance pay from Suncor.

Even without a good reason you can still get severance, but you would only receive your minimum entitlements.

LEARN MORE
• Sale of business in Ontario: Rights to severance
• Rights to severance in Alberta when your employer sells the business
• Employer sold the business in B.C.? Know your rights to severance

Can Canadian Utilities Limited make changes to Suncor workers’ jobs?

Non-unionized employees who work at Suncor’s wind and solar assets don’t have to accept major changes to their job that Canadian Utilities Limited might try to enforce.

Large modifications such as a demotion, cut in pay, reduction in hours, or negative change to commission are illegal.

When the terms of your employment are significantly changed, the law allows you to resign from your job and seek full severance pay through a constructive dismissal claim.

READ MORE
• Do I get severance if I quit?

New employment contracts for Suncor employees

If you are a non-unionized employee working at Suncor’s wind and solar assets, don’t accept a new employment contract from Canadian Utilities Limited before having it reviewed by an employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

Employment contracts often take away protections that would otherwise be available to you, including:

• Eliminating past service: A new owner might attempt to reduce or eliminate your years of service with your previous employer. Don’t sacrifice your seniority. Length of service is a key factor when determining how much severance pay you are entitled to.
• Termination clause: A new owner could use this clause to reduce your severance entitlements to the bare minimum. Instead of months of pay, you might only receive a few weeks’ pay if you are fired or let go.
• Ability to make changes: A new employer might try to work in an agreement that allows them to change aspects of your job (i.e. duties and pay) without your permission or lay you off without any penalty.

Your employer can’t force you to sign a new employment agreement, especially one that diminishes your rights.

SEE ALSO
• ’60 days or more’: Is it an enforceable termination clause?
• Employment Law Show: 5 things to know about employment contracts

Termination agreements for Suncor employees

In Canada, non-unionized employees and senior executives at Suncor are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing, corporate restructuring, or the business closes.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance packages in mass layoffs
• Employment lawyer on worker rights in the event of a layoff
• Employee rights when a company closes

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.