What Should I Do If I've Been Fired or Terminated in Ontario?

What to do, step by step

1. Get the termination details in writing.
2. Work out whether it’s “with cause” or “without cause,” because that changes what you’re owed.
3. Check your ESA minimum entitlements: notice, termination pay, and possibly severance pay.
4. Consider whether common-law “reasonable notice” gives you more than the ESA minimum.
5. Get your Record of Employment and apply for EI within four weeks.
6. Watch for human rights or reprisal issues tied to the termination.
7. Decide between an ESA claim and a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, since you can’t pursue both.
8. Note the filing deadlines that apply to your situation.

1. Get the termination details in writing

The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) does not require an Ontario employer to give a reason for ending your employment (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 54). Because the reason isn’t guaranteed to be explained verbally in a way you can rely on later, having the termination date, pay structure, and any severance offer set out in writing gives you something concrete to check against your legal entitlements.

2. Work out whether it’s “with cause” or “without cause”

This distinction controls what you’re owed. An employee terminated for wilful misconduct, disobedience, or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned by the employer is not entitled to ESA notice or termination pay at all (O Reg 288/01, s 2(1)(3), under the ESA). Outside of that narrow exception, terminations are treated as “without cause” and trigger the standard ESA notice and pay obligations described below.

A related situation is constructive dismissal: if your employer makes a significant unilateral change to a fundamental term of your employment without your consent, you may be able to treat that as a dismissal even if you weren’t formally told you’re fired (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 56(1)(b)).

3. Check your ESA minimum entitlements

If you’ve been continuously employed for three months or more, the ESA generally requires your employer to give you written notice, termination pay, or a combination of both (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 57). An employee with under one year of service is entitled to one week of termination notice under the ESA.

Separately, you may qualify for statutory severance pay (different from termination pay) if you’ve worked for the employer for more than five years and the employer either has a payroll of $2.5 million or more, or terminated 50 or more employees within six months (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, ss 64-65). Statutory severance pay is capped at 26 weeks (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 65(1)).

4. Consider whether common-law “reasonable notice” gives you more

The ESA sets minimum standards only. Separately, at common law, an employee terminated without cause is entitled to “reasonable notice,” a concept distinct from and potentially greater than the ESA minimum (Lake v La Presse, 2022 ONCA 742). Reasonable notice is assessed case by case, considering factors including the character of employment, length of service, age, and availability of similar employment, an approach that traces back to Bardal v Globe & Mail Ltd, 1960 CanLII 294 (ON SC): “There can be no catalogue laid down as to what is reasonable notice in particular classes of cases.”

A dismissed employee pursuing common-law notice also has a duty to mitigate damages, meaning making reasonable efforts to find comparable new employment.

5. Get your Record of Employment and apply for EI

Federally, across all provinces including Ontario and Alberta, your employer is required to issue a Record of Employment (ROE) whenever you have an interruption of earnings; it’s the key document used to apply for Employment Insurance (EI) (Employment Insurance Regulations, SOR/96-332, s 19). You can and should apply for EI as soon as you stop working, even before you’ve received the ROE (Employment Insurance Act, SC 1996, c 23, s 50). Applying more than four weeks after your last day of work risks losing benefits (Employment Insurance Act, SC 1996, c 23, s 10(4)).

6. Watch for human rights or reprisal issues

Ontario employers are prohibited from terminating or penalizing an employee in reprisal for exercising ESA rights, such as filing a complaint (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 74(1)). Separately, if you believe you were fired for a discriminatory reason connected to a Human Rights Code ground, you generally have one year from the discriminatory act to apply to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, with a possible exception for late filing (Human Rights Code, RSO 1990, c H.19, s 34(1)).

7. Decide between an ESA claim and a wrongful dismissal lawsuit

You cannot do both. Under the ESA, an employee who wants to pursue termination or severance pay through an ESA claim, or instead sue for wrongful dismissal in court, must choose one route for the same termination (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 97).

8. Know your deadlines

An ESA claim can be filed online with the Ministry of Labour, and generally must be filed within two years of the alleged violation (Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 96(3)). A Human Rights Tribunal application generally must be filed within one year of the discriminatory act. These are separate deadlines running on separate tracks, so missing one doesn’t necessarily affect the other, but both are worth confirming early rather than close to the limit.

Why the choice between ESA and court matters

The ESA gives you a fast, no-cost administrative route with defined minimums. A wrongful dismissal lawsuit can potentially recover more through common-law reasonable notice, but requires giving up the ESA claim option for that same termination and, unlike an ESA claim, isn’t a fixed formula, it depends on the Bardal factors and your specific circumstances. Which route makes sense depends on your length of service, age, position, and how the numbers compare, points worth working through carefully before choosing.