Canadian Employment Law for US Employers: Part 2 – Contracts
This is Part 2 of our blog series for US employers with operations in Canada. Click here to read Part 1 if you haven’t already.
No At-Will: Contracts are a Big Deal in Canada
One of the core employment law differences between the US and Canada is that there is no at-will employment in Canada. Ever. In fact, when Canadian judges read “at-will” in a contract, they typically set aside the contract altogether and substitute in typically far more generous common law terms.
In addition, if you do not have any contracts in place, the courts will read in implied terms. This is because all Canadian employment relationships are governed by a contract under our law, whether expressly in an agreement or implied based on common law.
If an employer does not roll out a contract with their employees, the judge will imply terms and conditions that in most cases are more generous than anything the employer would have provided.