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Employer Liability Issues Hiring & Firing Ontario

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Finds Employer Repudiated Employment Agreement When it Failed to Pay Employee’s Contractual Severance

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In Timmins v. Artisan Cells, 2025 CanLII 2387, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice found, in an undefended claim, that the employers “by their correspondence and actions” repudiated the employee’s employment agreement when...more

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Ontario, Canada Court of Appeal Agrees “For Cause” Termination Provision Was Unenforceable Because it Did not Comply with ESA’s...

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Applying prior precedent, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) in Dufault v. Ignace (Township), 2024 ONCA 915, upheld the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s (OSCJ) finding that the “for cause” termination provision in an...more

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Ontario Court Reaffirms Importance of Clear and Compliant Language in Employment Agreements

In December 2024, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its highly anticipated decision in Dufault v. Ignace (Township). The three-judge panel determined that the “for cause” termination clause contained in the employee’s...more

Bennett Jones LLP

New Regulations Regarding the Hiring Process: Key Dates and Information for Ontario Employers

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Ontario has recently published regulations offering employers further details on the new amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) related to the hiring process....more

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Ontario, Canada Court Finds Termination Provisions Unenforceable and Awards Employee Punitive Damages

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Wilds v. 1959612 Ontario Inc., 2024 ONSC 3452, involves a wrongful dismissal action in which the employee brought a motion for summary judgment. The court found the termination provisions in her employment agreement were...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Working for Workers Six Act, 2024: More Changes on the Horizon for Ontario’s Employment-Related Legislation

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On November 27, 2024, the Ontario government introduced Bill 229, Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229). This announcement comes just one-month after Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190) received...more

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Ontario, Canada Appellate Court Provides Guidance to Employers on How to Draft Employment Settlement Documents

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The Court of Appeal for Ontario found that settlement documents signed after an employee separated from employment prevented him from suing for the value of vested stock options....more

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Ontario, Canada Court Orders Independent Medical Examination of Employee Claiming Indefinite Inability to Mitigate Due to Mental...

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Marshall v. Mercantile Exchange Corporation, 2024 CanLII 71128  (ONSC), is an action for wrongful dismissal where the employee claimed he could not mitigate his damages by seeking alternative employment indefinitely because...more

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Ontario, Canada Court Reinforces Waksdale’s Impact on Enforceability of Termination Provisions and Provides Guidance on Proving...

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In De Castro v. Arista Homes Limited, 2024 ONSC 1035, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice (Court) held the termination provision in an employment contract was unenforceable because it defined “cause” more broadly than does...more

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Ontario, Canada Appeal Court Confirms Employment Contract Frustrated by Employee’s Refusal to Comply With COVID-19 Vaccination...

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In Croke v. VuPoint System Ltd., 2024 ONCA 354, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) upheld the Superior Court of Justice – Ontario (SCJ)’s summary judgment decision that an employee’s refusal to comply with their employer’s...more

Ius Laboris

Canadian court upholds termination of unvaccinated worker

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The Ontario Court of Appeal recently held that an employee’s failure to meet COVID-19 vaccination requirements imposed by a third party amounted to frustration of the employment contract. As a result, there was no obligation...more

Stikeman Elliott LLP

Incoming Legislative Changes for Ontario Employers: New Prohibition on Requirements Listed in Job Postings and Application Forms

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Further to our last post where we discussed the caution employers should exercise when requesting proof of citizenship or permanent residency status in the job application process, employers may soon face an additional level...more

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Ontario Updates: New Fines for ESA Contraventions, and Working for Workers Five Act (Bill 190) Proposed

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On May 6, 2024, the Ontario Government introduced Bill 190, the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (“Bill 190”), which, if passed, will provide new protections for workers, the key details of which are summarized below. The...more

Stikeman Elliott LLP

Ontario Update: Bill 149 Receives Royal Assent, includes Pay Transparency and AI Disclosure Requirements for Job Postings

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On March 21, 2024, the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 (“Bill 149”) received Royal Assent. Bill 149 amends the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) to include a new section pertaining to job postings, which...more

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Ontario, Canada Court Finds Termination Clauses in Fixed-Term Employment Agreement Unenforceable

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In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that the termination provisions of a fixed-term employment contract were illegal and unenforceable because...more

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Ontario Court Rules Employer's Discretion to Terminate is Shackled by the ESA

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In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace ("Dufault"), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, on a summary judgment motion, found the termination without cause provision of a fixed-term employment contract...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Decides Wrongfully Dismissed Employee’s Rejection of Offer of Comparable Employment Amounts to Failure to...

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In Gannon v. Kinsdale Carriers, 2024 ONSC 1060, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice denied common law reasonable notice to an employee who was wrongfully dismissed from her employment on the basis that she failed to...more

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Ontario, Canada Human Rights Commission Publishes Policy on Caste-based Discrimination

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The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently published a policy statement (Policy) pertaining to “caste-based discrimination” under Ontario’s Human Rights Code (Code). The Policy advises organizations that they have a legal...more

Bennett Jones LLP

More Legislative Changes on the Horizon for Ontario Employers

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On November 14, 2023, the Ontario government tabled Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149) which, as of the date of this blog, has been referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy. If implemented as...more

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Changes to Ontario's Employment-Related Legislation Have Arrived

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As you may have heard or read in our earlier blog, More Changes to Ontario's Employment-Related Legislation Are on the Horizon, the Ontario government introduced Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 in late March 2023. On...more

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Fixed in Stone - Fixed Term Remains Secure Despite Invalid Termination Clause

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The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released its decision in Kopyl v Losani Homes (not yet cited) (the “Decision”), providing insight into the enforceability of fixed terms in employment agreements in circumstances...more

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Best Practices for Verifying Eligibility to Work in Canada: Key Takeaways from Imperial Oil Limited v. Haseeb

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In Ontario, an employer is prohibited from unlawfully discriminating against a person in respect of employment, including at the recruitment phase, due to grounds protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”)....more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Arbitrator Upholds Reasonableness of Hospital Vaccination Policy Providing for Employment Termination of...

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An arbitrator recently issued the first award in Ontario to address and uphold the reasonableness of a hospital vaccination policy that provides for the termination of employment for non-compliance.  In Lakeridge Health and...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Awards Employee $15,000 in Moral Damages for Employer’s Bad-Faith Conduct Regarding His Dismissal

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In Teljeur v Aurora Hotel Group, 2023 ONSC 1324, a wrongful dismissal case, the court awarded the plaintiff-employee seven months’ damages for reasonable notice, and $15,000 in moral damages due to the employer’s bad-faith...more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court of Appeal Addresses How Employers Can Preserve Right to Unilaterally Lay Off Employees Without Being Found...

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In Pham v. Qualified Metal Fabricators Ltd., 2023 ONCA 255, the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) found that unless an employee’s employment contract provides otherwise via an express or implied term, an employer’s unilateral lay...more

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