Employment
Provincial standards for 94 per cent of workers, Canada Labour Code for the rest
Which statute applies depends on the employer's industry, not the employee's job. Federally regulated sectors — banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transport, broadcasting — fall under the Canada Labour Code, and everyone else under provincial employment standards. There is no at-will employment: an employer without cause must give reasonable notice at common law, which routinely exceeds the statutory minimum.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Provincial for roughly 94 per cent of employees; federal for named industries
- Deadline — Ontario employment standards claim: within two years of the contravention
- Deadline — Federal unjust dismissal complaint: within 90 days of dismissal
- Deadline — Human rights application in Ontario: within one year of the incident
- Deadline — Group termination of 50 or more: notice to the Minister before the layoffs
Governing law
- Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c. L-2
- Employment Standards Act 2000 (Ontario), SO 2000, c. 41
- Act respecting labour standards (Quebec), CQLR c. N-1.1
- Canadian Human Rights Act, RSC 1985, c. H-6
In practice
The practical centre of Canadian employment law is common-law reasonable notice, assessed on the Bardal factors of age, length of service, character of employment and availability of similar work, and capped in practice around 24 months. A written termination clause can limit that entitlement, but only if it is at least as generous as the statutory floor at every point of the employment — otherwise it is void and the full common-law notice revives.