Severance Package Review in Toronto

You have just been handed a termination letter and a severance offer, usually with a deadline to sign. Before you do, know this: many first offers are lower than what Ontario law entitles you to. A review takes days, not weeks, and it can change the outcome.

What you may be owed

When your employment ends without cause in Ontario, you may be owed three different things.

1. Termination pay under the ESA. The Employment Standards Act, 2000 sets the floor: once you have worked at least three months, you get notice or pay in lieu, rising to one week per year of service up to a maximum of eight weeks.

2. Severance pay under the ESA. If you have five or more years of service, and your employer has a global payroll of at least $2.5 million (or is ending 50 or more jobs within six months because all or part of the business is closing), you are also owed one week's pay per year of service, up to 26 weeks.

3. Reasonable notice at common law. Unless your contract validly limits you to the ESA minimums, you are entitled to "reasonable notice." It depends on your age, length of service, role and how hard it will be to find similar work. It is often several months, and for long-service employees it can run well past a year.

Most offers land somewhere between the ESA minimums and full common law notice. Where yours lands, and why, is what a review tells you.

Does your contract limit what you get?

Many employment contracts try to cap you at the ESA minimums. A termination clause only does that if it is clear and complies with the ESA in every situation. The Court of Appeal for Ontario drew those lines twice in 2026, upholding one clause read with common sense and striking down another that took away statutory minimums for cause. (Read our post on the latest decision.) If your clause fails, you are owed common law notice instead.

What else we look at

• Bonuses and commissions. Damages generally include what you would have earned during the notice period, unless your plan clearly and unambiguously excludes it.

• Benefits, pension and equity. Whether they continue, for how long, and what happens to unvested stock options.

• The release. Signing usually ends your right to claim more. It may also add confidentiality, non-disparagement or non-solicitation terms.

• The deadline. Short deadlines are common. Your ESA minimums are owed whether or not you sign, so they cannot be held back to pressure you.

• Mitigation. You are expected to look for comparable work. Whether new earnings reduce what you are owed depends on how the package is structured.

How our review works

1. A free 30-minute call. Tell us what happened and we will tell you whether a full review is worth it.

2. A termination assessment, $350 plus HST. We review your employment agreement, termination letter, package and release against current case law, and give you a written strategy, including a realistic range for what you may be owed.

3. Negotiation, or a claim if needed. If the offer falls short, we can act on an hourly retainer or, for qualifying cases, a contingency fee. (How our contingency fees work.)

Time limits

You generally have two years from your termination to start a wrongful dismissal claim in court, and two years to file an ESA claim with the Ministry of Labour. In practice, the deadline that matters first is the one in your offer letter.

Related: Wrongful Dismissal · Constructive Dismissal · Temporary Layoff

Don't sign yet.

Your first 30-minute call is free. Book below, or call 437-783-5757.