Ontario severance pay: what's my minimum?
Free ESA calculator: termination pay, severance pay and vacation pay. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
For work in Ontario, for an employer that isn't federally regulated. Another province, or a federal job like a bank? Different rules apply.
Your job and your pay
Example figures. Replace them with yours.
Notice must be written. For Form 1 group notice, enter the later of your notice date and Director's receipt date. Pick No if group notice wasn't effective before the job ended. Unknown receipt date? Confirm it before using the group total.
Your regular pay before tax. Leave out overtime, vacation pay and public holiday pay: the ESA leaves them out of regular wages.
Your usual non-overtime hours. We cap at 44 for the standard ESA rule. Exempt or on a different threshold? Choose Salary, a week and enter your regular weekly wages.
If your hours change week to week, or you're paid commission, add up your regular pay in the 12 weeks before your job ends and count the weeks you worked. We take the average.
The ESA minimum is 4% of your wages, or 6% from 5 years with this employer. If your contract pays more, set your rate here: we use it for both vacation pay lines.
Use wages from the current vacation entitlement year, overtime and holiday pay included. Leave out vacation pay and termination pay. Earlier unpaid vacation years need separate sums: clear the dates and choose each year's rate.
For 50 or more terminations at one ESA establishment within 4 weeks, group notice is 8, 12 or 16 weeks, whatever your years. Your employer files Form 1 and gives you a copy.
Group notice starts only once the Director of Employment Standards receives Form 1. If that was after your written notice, use that later date in the notice-date field. A cut of 10% or fewer of staff employed there for at least 3 months, with no permanent closure, may fall outside it.
The total your employer is offering, before tax. If the offer includes the unpaid vacation pay you entered, tick the box below and we'll count it in the comparison.
Your ESA minimum, line by line
This calculator needs JavaScript. The notice table and the severance rules further down still show how the ESA minimum is worked out.
No notice or termination pay in the first 3 months
Your figures will show here
Fill in your dates, your notice and your pay, or try an example.
If your employer meets the severance pay test
If it doesn't
Rules from the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (consolidated from January 1, 2026) and O. Reg. 288/01 (from July 1, 2025), last checked October 8, 2026.
- Does your employer meet the severance pay test?
Payroll covers all staff worldwide. The test uses the last completed 4 weeks' wages x 13, or either of the last 2 fiscal years. Can't find out? Keep Not sure: we show both totals.
Its total payroll is $2.5 million a year or more, or all or part of the business at an ESA establishment closed for good and 50 or more people lost their jobs within 6 months because of it.
The ESA minimum on the figures you entered - not a decision of the Ministry, and not what a court could award.
Your employer's offer
A difference is something to ask about, not a finding: an offer can mix ESA money with money under your contract.
Questions to ask before you sign
On releases, the ESA is plain: no employer or employee "shall contract out of or waive an employment standard".
We've assumed none of these applies to you
Different exceptions apply to termination pay and severance pay. Both can be excluded for construction work or wilful misconduct that isn't trivial and wasn't condoned. Some fixed-term jobs lasting no more than 12 months exclude termination pay only. Alternative work and frustrated contracts have exceptions too.
The ministry's special rules tool covers jobs with rules of their own, and the Employment Standards Information Centre answers questions at 1-800-531-5551.
More than the minimum?
The ESA sets a floor. Some people have greater rights under their contract or the common law. If you think that's you, know one rule before you act: you can't claim termination or severance pay from the ministry and also sue for wrongful dismissal over the same job loss, unless you withdraw the claim within 2 weeks of filing it. File a ministry claim within 2 years of the alleged violation.
Wondering whether you could get more than the minimum? That's a question for an employment lawyer.
Add your dates, your notice and your pay to see termination pay and severance pay too.
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How the severance pay calculator works
You've just lost your job, and the letter in front of you uses "notice", "termination pay" and "severance" as if they meant the same thing. They don't, and mixing them up is how people end up signing for less than the law requires. Under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, they're separate payments with separate tests, so we work each one out on its own line.
Termination pay comes first. Almost everyone who has worked 3 months or more has to get written notice before the job ends: 1 week in the first year, 2 weeks from 1 to 3 years, then a week more for each year, up to 8 weeks. Whatever notice you didn't get in writing has to be paid out instead. We count your period of employment from your start date to the day you got written notice, or to the date your job ends if the notice was missing or too short. Then we look up the weeks the Act requires and take off the days of notice you did get. A part week is paid by the calendar day.
The pay for those weeks is your regular pay for a normal week. A yearly salary is divided by 52, and a monthly one is multiplied by 12 first. Hourly pay uses your non-overtime hours, capped at 44 for the standard ESA rule. If your job is exempt or has a different threshold, choose Salary, a week and enter your regular weekly wages. If your hours or commissions vary, we average the last 12 weeks over the weeks you actually worked. Vacation pay goes on top of the termination pay: 4%, or 6% once you've been there 5 years, or your contract's rate if it's higher.
Two details aren't spelled out in the Act, the ministry's guide or its policy manual, as we read them on October 8, 2026. Paying a part week by the calendar day is our choice, and for some work patterns another method could give a different figure. And when the notice you didn't get would have carried you past 5 years, none of the three says whether vacation pay on termination pay rises to 6%. We keep the 4% your dates give, and you can set a higher vacation pay rate yourself.
Severance pay is the second, separate payment, and it's where most of the confusion lives. It applies only after 5 years with the employer, and only if the employer's payroll is $2.5 million or more, counting all its staff everywhere, or if a permanent closure at an ESA establishment cost 50 or more jobs within 6 months. It's a week's pay for each completed year plus a twelfth of a week for each extra completed month, up to 26 weeks. If your notice was short, the Act counts the months as if you'd worked it, the ministry counts them toward the 5 years too, and we print the date we counted to. Severance pay gets no vacation pay on top. Don't know your employer's payroll? Leave the answer at Not sure and we'll show you the total both ways.
Different exceptions apply to the two payments. Construction work and wilful misconduct that isn't trivial or condoned can exclude both. Some fixed-term jobs lasting no more than 12 months exclude termination pay only. Alternative work and frustrated contracts have exceptions too. We assume none applies to you. If one might, the ministry's special rules tool and the Employment Standards Information Centre at 1-800-531-5551 can tell you.
Every rule here comes from the Act and its termination regulation, O. Reg. 288/01, read with the ministry's policy manual. None of the figures is estimated or generated. The ministry's own references are its guide to the Act and its Employment Standards Self-Service Tool.
Who this is for
You've just been let go in Ontario, or you're holding a letter with an end date, and you want the legal minimum in front of you before you sign anything or apply for Employment Insurance. It's also for the family member or settlement worker sitting next to you, checking the same numbers.
Employee questions about severance pay in Ontario
How is severance pay calculated in Ontario?
Take your regular pay for a normal week and multiply it by your completed years of employment, plus a twelfth for each extra completed month, up to 26 weeks. If you got less written notice than the ESA requires, the months are counted as if you'd worked that notice too. It applies only after 5 years with the employer, and only where the payroll is $2.5 million or more or a permanent closure at an ESA establishment cost 50 or more jobs within 6 months.
Are severance pay and termination pay the same thing?
No. They're two payments with two different tests, and people mix them up both ways. Termination pay replaces written notice you didn't get, normally up to 8 weeks, and almost everyone with 3 months on the job is covered. Severance pay comes on top of it, only after 5 years and only from a large employer or after a big closure. A small business usually pays only the first.
How many weeks of termination pay do I get in Ontario?
It depends on your period of employment: 1 week in the first year, 2 weeks from 1 to 3 years, then a week more for each year, up to 8 weeks at 8 years. Written notice you did get counts against it, day for day. For 50 or more terminations at one ESA establishment within 4 weeks, with a Form 1, it's 8, 12 or 16 weeks instead, whatever your years.
Do small businesses have to pay severance in Ontario?
Usually not ESA severance pay. It needs 5 years with the employer, including statutory notice not given, and applies when the employer's payroll is $2.5 million or more, counting the wages of all its staff everywhere, not just your workplace, or when all or part of a business at an ESA establishment closes for good and 50 or more people lose their jobs within 6 months. Termination pay is a different matter: small employers have to pay it too.
Is there vacation pay on termination pay in Ontario?
Yes. The ministry's guide is blunt about it: "Vacation pay is payable on termination pay but not on severance pay." So your termination pay gets 4%, or 6% once you've worked there 5 years, or your contract's higher rate if you have one. Severance pay gets nothing added. We keep it on its own line, so you can check whether an offer includes it.
What's the vacation pay percentage in Ontario after 5 years?
It's 6% of your wages, up from 4%. The ministry applies the 6% to all the wages in the vacation year in which you reach 5 years, not just the weeks after your anniversary. Your contract can give you more, such as 8% with four weeks' vacation, and then the higher rate is the one that counts.
When is severance pay due in Ontario?
By the later of two dates: 7 days after your job ends, or what would have been your next regular pay day. A holiday can extend that deadline. The same rule covers termination pay and vacation pay you haven't had yet. Severance pay can be split into instalments only if you agree or the Director of Employment Standards approves, over 3 years at most. If your employer misses one payment, the rest is due at once.
Do part-time employees get severance pay in Ontario?
Yes, on the same terms as everyone else, because the ESA has no separate rules for part-time work. Notice, termination pay and severance pay all depend on your period of employment and your regular wages, so a part-time job counts the same way, with your usual part-time week as the base. If your hours change from week to week, choose Varies or commission and enter your last 12 weeks.
Can I get more severance than the ESA minimum?
Possibly. The ESA sets a floor, and some people have greater rights under their contract or the common law. We don't estimate those, because they turn on facts a form can't weigh. Know one rule before you act: a ministry claim for termination or severance pay and a wrongful dismissal lawsuit over the same job loss exclude each other, unless you withdraw the claim within 2 weeks of filing it.
Termination pay chart for Ontario: notice by years worked
Find how long you've worked for this employer. Beside it is the written notice the ESA requires, or the termination pay that replaces it. Group notice counts only when 50 or more people lose their jobs at one ESA establishment within 4 weeks and your employer files a Form 1.
| Period of employment | Written notice, or termination pay instead |
|---|---|
| Under 3 months | None required |
| 3 months to under 1 year | 1 week |
| 1 year to under 3 years | 2 weeks |
| 3 years to under 4 years | 3 weeks |
| 4 years to under 5 years | 4 weeks |
| 5 years to under 6 years | 5 weeks |
| 6 years to under 7 years | 6 weeks |
| 7 years to under 8 years | 7 weeks |
| 8 years or more | 8 weeks |
| Group termination with a Form 1, 50 to 199 people | 8 weeks |
| Group termination with a Form 1, 200 to 499 people | 12 weeks |
| Group termination with a Form 1, 500 or more people | 16 weeks |
Period of employment is counted to the day you got written notice, or to the date your job ends if you got none or too little.
Severance pay is separate and comes on top. It needs 5 years, counting notice you didn't get, and an employer with a payroll of $2.5 million or more, or a permanent closure at an ESA establishment that cost 50 or more jobs within 6 months. It's a week's pay for each completed year plus a twelfth for each extra completed month, up to 26 weeks.
Sources and last checked
- The rules: Employment Standards Act, 2000 (consolidated from January 1, 2026; also en français) and O. Reg. 288/01, Termination and Severance of Employment (consolidated from July 1, 2025), on Ontario's e-Laws. Last checked October 8, 2026. Data version esa-termination-rules-2026-10-07.
- The ministry's guide to the Act: "Termination of employment" (updated July 23, 2026), "Severance pay" (updated March 18, 2026) and "Vacation" (updated February 5, 2026). Last checked October 8, 2026.
- Federal jobs and other provinces: Canada.ca, "List of federally regulated industries and workplaces".
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