# Should You Negotiate or Get a Lawyer to Review Your Severance Package?

> In Ontario, Alberta, and federally, an employer's severance offer often only matches the statutory minimum, not the potentially larger common-law 'reasonable notice' entitlement (comparable to US wrongful termination damages, called wrongful dismissal in Canada). Before signing a release, which can permanently bar future claims, comparing the offer against your legal minimums and getting it reviewed is worth considering, especially with long service or an unclear termination clause.

Published 2026-08-19 · Last reviewed 2026-08-18 · [Canonical page](https://canadalegalcenter.ca/articles/should-i-negotiate-or-get-my-severance-package-reviewed-by-a-lawyer/)

Legal information, not legal advice.

## Step 1: Check the offer against the statutory minimum you're legally owed

Every employer in Ontario, Alberta, and under federal jurisdiction has to meet a legislated floor before anything else is negotiated. In Ontario, employees who reach five or more years of service (and whose employer meets a payroll threshold) qualify for a separate statutory severance pay entitlement on top of ordinary termination pay, as set out in the [Employment Standards Act guide on severance pay](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/severance-pay). That statutory severance pay is capped at 26 weeks under the same Act. In Alberta, the [Employment Standards Code's Part 2, Division 8](https://www.alberta.ca/employment-standards-termination-and-lay-off) sets the required process, notice periods, and termination pay, and the province is explicit that a terminated employee "may be entitled to more than the minimum amount of termination notice or pay required under employment standards." Federally regulated employees (banks, airlines, telecommunications, and similar industries) fall instead under the [Canada Labour Code, section 235](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-235.html), which requires statutory severance pay once an employee has completed 12 consecutive months of service, unless the dismissal is for just cause.

## Step 2: Compare that floor to what "reasonable notice" could actually be worth

Statutory minimums are not the ceiling. At common law, an employee dismissed without cause is presumed entitled to reasonable notice, or pay instead of it, as an implied term of the employment contract, a principle first set out in [Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd.](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhc/doc/1960/1960canlii294/1960canlii294.html). How much notice that translates to is decided case by case, using what are known as the "Bardal factors": the character of the employment, length of service, age, and how available similar employment is, as [applied in Chapell v. Canadian Pacific Railway Company](https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc/2010/2010abqb441/2010abqb441.html). Because these factors vary so much from one employee to the next, two people with similar job titles but different ages or years of service can have very different entitlements, which is precisely why a severance offer that only mirrors the statutory minimum can leave real money on the table.

## Step 3: Look for whether your contract's termination clause is even valid

Many employment contracts try to limit an employee to the statutory minimum by contract. That clause only works if it's properly drafted. Where a termination clause promises less notice than the statutory minimum, the Supreme Court of Canada has held the clause is void, and the employee falls back on common-law reasonable notice instead, which is often more generous than the original offer, as decided in [Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd.](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1992/1992canlii102/1992canlii102.html). Whether a specific clause is enforceable is a legal question that turns on its wording, not something a plain reading of the contract can reliably settle.

## Step 4: Don't sign the release before it's reviewed

Severance offers almost always come with a release, a document waiving your right to bring further claims. Ontario courts have interpreted a release signed to end an employment relationship as covering "all claims" arising from that relationship, including claims the employee didn't know about at the time of signing, according to [Biancaniello v. DMCT LLP](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2017/2017onca386/2017onca386.html). Once signed, that release generally forecloses coming back later even if you discover the offer undervalued your entitlement. This is the point in the process where the timing of a legal review matters most: before signing, not after.

## Step 5: Know that Ontario law forces a choice between two paths

If you're in Ontario, taking action has a fork in it. The [Employment Standards Act guide](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/severance-pay) states that an employee "cannot sue an employer for wrongful dismissal and file a claim for termination pay or severance pay with the ministry for the same termination"; you have to pick one or the other. That decision is difficult to reverse once made, which is another reason to sort out your entitlements before filing anything. Federally regulated employees have a different structure: the Canada Labour Code allows an employee to receive statutory severance pay while still keeping the right to bring a separate unjust dismissal complaint, since the [Code specifies that the employer's severance obligation applies "whether or not the employee has a right" to pursue redress under other parts of the Act](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-235.html). Alberta's Employment Standards Code guidance reviewed here does not set out an equivalent either/or election for Alberta employees, so that specific point was not verified for Alberta.

## Step 6: Get legal advice before you negotiate or sign anything

Both provincial governments point employees toward legal advice rather than treating the statutory minimums as the end of the analysis. Ontario's own [termination guide states that "employees may wish to obtain legal advice concerning their rights"](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/termination-employment). Alberta's government guidance goes further and directs employees to a specific resource: "you can use the Law Society of Alberta Lawyer Directory to find a lawyer who specialized in labour legislation and layoffs," per [Alberta.ca's termination and lay-off page](https://www.alberta.ca/employment-standards-termination-and-lay-off). Whether negotiating on your own, having a lawyer negotiate, or accepting the offer as-is makes sense depends on facts specific to your situation, length of service, whether your contract has a valid termination clause, and whether the offer reflects reasonable notice or just the statutory floor, that a lawyer reviewing the actual offer and contract is positioned to assess.

## Frequently asked questions

**If I sign the release that comes with a severance offer, can I still sue later?**

Generally no. Courts in Ontario and other common-law provinces have held that a release signed to end an employment relationship can cover claims you didn't know about at the time you signed, so this applies once you sign regardless of province.

**Can I file an Employment Standards claim and also sue for wrongful dismissal over the same job loss?**

In Ontario, no: the Employment Standards Act requires you to choose either an ESA claim for termination or severance pay, or a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, not both, for the same termination.

**Does it matter if my employer is federally regulated instead of provincially regulated?**

Yes. Federally regulated employers (banks, airlines, telecoms, and similar) are covered by the Canada Labour Code, which sets its own 12-month service threshold for statutory severance pay and lets you receive that pay while still pursuing an unjust dismissal complaint.

**Is the first severance offer usually the final one?**

The sources reviewed don't establish a general rule either way; what's verified is that Ontario and Alberta government guidance both flag that offers based only on statutory minimums may understate what an employee is legally owed, which is a reason to check the offer rather than assume it's fixed.


## Sources

1. [Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd. (CanLII)](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onhc/doc/1960/1960canlii294/1960canlii294.html), Bardal v Globe & Mail Ltd, 1960 CanLII 294 (ON SC)
2. [Chapell v. Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CanLII)](https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc/2010/2010abqb441/2010abqb441.html), Chapell v Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 2010 ABQB 441 (CanLII)
3. [Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd. (CanLII)](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1992/1992canlii102/1992canlii102.html), Machtinger v HOJ Industries Ltd, [1992] 1 SCR 986, 1992 CanLII 102 (SCC)
4. [Ontario.ca, Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act – Severance Pay](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/severance-pay), Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, s 64, 97 (retrieved 2025-03-10)
5. [Ontario.ca, Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act – Termination of Employment](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/termination-employment), Employment Standards Act, 2000, SO 2000, c 41, Part XV
6. [Alberta.ca, Employment standards – Termination and lay-off](https://www.alberta.ca/employment-standards-termination-and-lay-off), Employment Standards Code, RSA 2000, c E-9, Part 2, Division 8 (retrieved 2025-03-10)
7. [Justice Laws Website, Canada Labour Code, s. 235](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-235.html), Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985, c L-2, s 235 (retrieved 2025-03-10)
8. [Biancaniello v. DMCT LLP (CanLII)](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2017/2017onca386/2017onca386.html), Biancaniello v DMCT LLP, 2017 ONCA 386