Amendments to the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”) rules regarding individual terminations came into effect on February 1, 2024. These changes only impact federally regulated employers.
Federally regulated employers are now required to:
- Provide increased statutory notice to employees who are dismissed without just cause, and
- Provide a termination statement to each employee whose employment is terminated.
The New Statutory Notice of Termination Entitlements
An employee whose employment is terminated without just cause is entitled to the following notice of termination, or pay in lieu thereof:[1]
| Length of continuous service completed | Statutory notice entitlement |
| Less than three months | No entitlement |
| 3 months or more | 2 weeks |
| 3 years or more | 3 weeks |
| 4 years or more | 4 weeks |
| 5 years or more | 5 weeks |
| 6 years or more | 6 weeks |
| 7 years or more | 7 weeks |
| 8 years or more | 8 weeks |
This change does not alter group termination notice entitlements nor does it impact statutory severance pay entitlements. Under the CLC, an employee is entitled to severance pay after they have completed 12 consecutive months of employment.
New Requirement for Termination Statements
The amendments to the CLC also require a federally regulated employer to provide an employee whose employment is terminated a statement that summarizes the employee’s outstanding entitlements at the time of termination.[2] This termination statement must set out the employee’s outstanding vacation benefits, wages, severance pay, and any other benefit and/or pay arising from the employee’s employment.
The CLC sets out the following deadlines for when the termination statement must be provided to the employee:
- When an employee receives working notice, the statement must be given no later than two weeks before the date of termination.
- When an employee receives wages in lieu of notice, the statement must be given no later than the date of termination.
- When an employee receives a combination of working notice and wages in lieu of notice, the statement must be given no later than two weeks before the date of termination of employment unless the period of notice is shorter, in which case the statement must be given no later than the date that notice of termination is given.
Other Recent Changes to the CLC
The Federal Government has made other recent changes to the CLC, including requirements to:
- Provide up to ten paid days of medical leave per year (effective December 1, 2022)
- Provide reimbursement for reasonable work-related expenses (effective July 9, 2023)
- Provide to each employee certain Ministry of Labour materials and a written statement containing information related to the employee’s employment (effective July 9, 2023).
To learn more and for assistance, contact your Sherrard Kuzz lawyer or info@sherrardkuzz.com.
The information contained in this briefing note is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice, nor does accessing this information create a lawyer-client relationship. This briefing note is current as of March 26, 2024 and applies only to Ontario, Canada, or such other laws of Canada as expressly indicated. Information about the law is checked for legal accuracy as at the date the briefing note is prepared but may become outdated as laws or policies change. For clarification or for legal or other professional assistance please contact Sherrard Kuzz LLP.