Greater Toronto Area's Leading Severance Package & Employment Lawyers

Most severance offers include deadlines, but they are almost always negotiable under Ontario employment law. We routinely extend deadlines while we negotiate better severance terms. The pressure to sign immediately is a tactic to prevent you from seeking employment law advice.

That’s rarely true under Ontario employment standards. Initial severance offers are typically just starting points, and significant improvements are possible in most wrongful dismissal cases. Employers say this to discourage you from seeking employment law advice.

Asserting your employment law rights doesn’t make you aggressive. It makes you informed. Professional severance negotiation is a normal part of business, and protecting your financial interests is reasonable under employment law.

The ESA only sets the bare legal minimum for severance pay. In most cases, you’re entitled to much more under common law employment standards—often several months’ additional pay. ESA minimums are a safety net, not fair severance compensation.

This depends on how your severance is structured.

• Lump Sum: If you receive a one-time “Lump Sum” payment up front and sign a release, that money is yours to keep, even if you start a new job the next day.

• Salary Continuance: If you are paid bi-weekly as if you were still working, your employer may include a “mitigation clause.” This often means if you find a new job, they stop paying you, or they only pay a small “top-up” (e.g., 50% of the remaining balance). Always check your offer for a mitigation clause before signing, as it can significantly change the value of the deal if you are a high-demand candidate.

 

Employment standards follow the worker, not the HQ. If you physically perform your work in Ontario, you are generally protected by the Ontario Employment Standards Act and Ontario Common Law, regardless of where your employer’s head office is located.
Many US-based companies try to offer “standard US severance” (which is often much lower). Don’t fall for it—your Ontario residency gives you some of the strongest severance rights in North America.

The Reality: This is one of the most common ways employers try to avoid paying severance. In Ontario, there is a massive legal difference between being a “poor performer” and having “just cause” for dismissal.

• Just Cause requires “wilful misconduct” or “disobedience”—essentially, you did something intentionally wrong (like theft or fraud).

• Performance Issues (not meeting sales targets, making mistakes, or “not being a fit”) are almost always considered terminations without cause. Unless you were guilty of serious, non-trivial misconduct, you are still entitled to your full severance package under Common Law.

 

Not necessarily. In the last few years, Ontario courts have been incredibly strict about “Termination Clauses.” If the clause is drafted poorly—even by one word—it can be declared “void and unenforceable.” Common issues include clauses that don’t mention benefits, or clauses that use language like “at the company’s sole discretion.” If your contract is found to be “broken,” you move from the tiny ESA minimums to the much larger Common Law standard (often jumping from 8 weeks to 8 months of pay).