Canada: Employment and HR

The Ontario Court of Appeal has issued a significant ruling on how Restricted Stock Units must be treated during termination notice periods under employment law. This decision addresses whether RSUs continue to vest when an employee is terminated, both under statutory notice periods prescribed by the Employment Standards Act and under common law notice periods when contractual termination provisions are unenforceable.

Employment agreements are often treated as risk management tools. Employers rely on them to set workplace expectations and limit liability on termination. But an agreement only serves that purpose if it actually survives judicial scrutiny, and for the past few years, termination clause litigation in Ontario has increasingly turned on whether a court can find some theoretical reading of a clause that would violate the Employment Standards Act, 2000 ("ESA"), even where that plainly is not what the parties meant.

Rosen Sunshine's September 2026 newsletter highlights new associate additions, faculty appointments at Osgoode Hall Law School, and explores a little-known hiring restriction affecting long-term care facilities. The firm shares updates on professional development activities and upcoming medico-legal education programs.

Ontario caregivers juggling work and family responsibilities have important legal protections under provincial law. Understanding job-protected leaves, accommodation rights, and benefit eligibility can help caregivers maintain their employment while caring for medically fragile family members.

WorkSafeBC has launched a public consultation on proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation that would introduce comprehensive new requirements for addressing workplace harassment, violence, and psychosocial hazards. The proposed Part 4.1 would replace current provisions with an expanded framework requiring employers to develop harassment prevention programs, implement control measures for violence incidents, and identify and assess psychosocial hazards that could expose workers to

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal found that an employer discriminated against a long-term employee with a knee injury by insisting he return to his original role as a Second Cook...

Canadian taxpayers who pay for a lawyer often assume the bill is simply a cost of doing business, or a cost of life, with no tax consequence either way.

Registered Disability Savings Plans offer eligible Canadians a powerful tool to build tax-deferred savings for life after 60, complete with government matching grants up to $70,000 and bonds up to $20,000. Despite these significant benefits, only one-third of eligible Canadians have opened an RDSP. Understanding how these plans work, including contribution limits, withdrawal rules, and eligibility requirements, can help individuals with disabilities secure their financial future.

Many immigrants had a career before they moved to Canada and they might be eligible to receive a foreign pension from another country.

A financial planner's wrongful dismissal case against RBC resulted in over $2.5 million in damages after the bank filed an inaccurate termination notice that destroyed her career prospects. The Ontario Superior Court found the bank's conduct vindictive and its allegations of cause unproven, raising critical questions about employer obligations when reporting terminations in the investment industry.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has issued a significant ruling on how Restricted Stock Units must be treated during termination notice periods under employment law. This decision addresses whether RSUs continue to vest when an employee is terminated, both under statutory notice periods prescribed by the Employment Standards Act and under common law notice periods when contractual termination provisions are unenforceable.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that employees are entitled to continued vesting of RSUs and equity-based compensation during the statutory notice period, striking down forfeiture provisions that attempt to end vesting immediately upon termination. In a landmark decision awarding Dr. Wigdor nearly US$4.7 million in unvested RSUs, the Court clarified that equity compensation constitutes a "term or condition of employment" protected under the Employment Standards Act. What does this mean for employers w