Employment Law in Canada

I've been fired without cause. What am I owed?

Almost always more than the legal minimum quoted at you. The statutory floor (in Ontario: up to 8 weeks' notice or pay, plus up to 26 weeks' severance for 5-plus-year employees of large-payroll employers) is just that — a floor. Unless a valid contract limits you to it, the common law entitles you to reasonable notice based on your age, service, role and job market — often months of pay, in long-service cases up to around 24 months. This is why the standard advice on any severance offer is: don't sign before advice.

Can my employer just change my pay, hours or duties?

Not fundamentally, and not unilaterally. A significant one-sided change to the core of the bargain — a big pay cut, a demotion, a forced relocation, or an intolerable workplace — can be constructive dismissal: the law treats you as dismissed and owed a notice package even though nobody fired you. The area is genuinely tricky (staying too long can look like acceptance; leaving too fast can be a resignation), so it is one of the most valuable situations in which to get advice before you act.

What counts as just cause for firing me?

Misconduct serious enough to destroy the employment relationship — proven by the employer. Theft, serious dishonesty, harassment, gross insubordination can qualify; ordinary performance issues, personality friction and single minor mistakes generally do not, at least without warnings and a chance to improve. Employers routinely allege cause to avoid paying notice; courts routinely reject it. If "cause" is being claimed against you, treat it as a package-negotiation position, not a verdict — and get advice.

I'm being harassed or discriminated against at work. What are my options?

Several doors, with different clocks. Human rights legislation in every jurisdiction prohibits harassment and discrimination on protected grounds — in Ontario, applications to the Human Rights Tribunal are generally brought within 1 year. Occupational health and safety laws require employers to address workplace harassment, and reprisal for raising it is itself unlawful. Where the environment becomes intolerable, constructive dismissal may be in play. Document everything, use the internal process where it is safe to, and get the routes mapped before deadlines pass.

What's the minimum wage, and what if I'm not being paid properly?

It differs by province and moves often — Ontario's general rate is $17.60 an hour, rising to $17.95 on 1 October 2026; other provinces set their own. Unpaid wages, overtime and vacation pay can be recovered through your province's employment standards complaint process (free, no lawyer needed) or, for larger claims bundled with dismissal damages, through the courts. Complaint windows are limited — commonly around 2 years — so raise it while the records are fresh.

Do federal employees have different rights?

Federally regulated ones do — and it is about the industry, not the passport. Banks, airlines, telecoms, rail and interprovincial transport fall under the Canada Labour Code rather than provincial law. Its standout feature: the unjust-dismissal regime, under which non-managerial employees with 12 months' service, dismissed without cause, can seek remedies up to reinstatement — a power provincial regimes don't offer. Deadlines are short, so federal-sector dismissals deserve fast advice.

Should I take the severance package they offered?

Not before it is reviewed. Offers pitched at or near the statutory minimums are common, and signing the release extinguishes the (often much larger) common-law claim. A proper review checks the notice period against your age, service and role, the treatment of bonus and benefits through the notice period, and the release's terms. Reasonable deadlines in offers are negotiable more often than people assume. This is the single most common — and most valuable — use of the C$295 consultation.

Is this legal advice? Are you a law firm?

No. Legal Hotline is not a law firm. The free line gives clear, general legal information about Canadian employment law — not legal advice on your specific situation — and calling creates no lawyer-client relationship. When you want advice or a severance offer reviewed, we connect you with a Canadian employment lawyer for a one-hour consultation at a flat C$295 — the total, nothing added — bookable on the call, with the price confirmed before you pay anything.