Canada: Contracts of employment

Updating author: Sharaf Sultan, Sultan Lawyers
Original author: Miller Thomson

See the legal services provided by the author of International > Canada, including any discounts/offers for subscribers.

Summary

• The parties to the employment contract are, in all jurisdictions, prohibited from "contracting out" of minimum statutory standards. (See General)
• There is no federal or provincial/territorial law that either requires employers to employ new recruits on a probationary period, or prohibits them from doing so. (See Probationary periods)
• Employment contracts can be written or oral, for an indefinite or fixed term, and for full-time or part-time work. (See Types of contract)
• There is generally no requirement that any employment contracts be concluded in writing, or that employers must provide employees with a written statement of their terms and conditions of employment. (See Written employment contracts)
• For employees not covered by a collective agreement, the terms of the employment contract may generally be varied only by agreement between the employer and employee. (See Variation of contract)
• Non-competition clauses are often included in employment contracts to restrict an employee from working for competitors of their employer's business after their employment has ended. (See Non-competition clauses)