Do I inherit an employee's years of service if I buy the company's shares?

Yes, automatically, and this isn't really an open question the way it can be in an asset deal. In a share purchase, the corporation itself doesn't change — you're buying the shares of the same legal entity that has always employed the staff — so every employee's years of service, and everything that depends on it, continues exactly as it was the day before closing. There's no new employer, no transfer, and no gap to analyze.

This matters because people sometimes assume a change in ownership automatically resets the employment relationship, the way it might feel like a "new company" from the outside. Under a share purchase, nothing about the employment relationship changes as a matter of law: vacation entitlement, eligibility for statutory leaves, and any notice or severance calculation if someone is later let go all continue to be measured from the employee's original start date with the company, not from your closing date.

If you're planning changes to roles, pay, or terms after taking over, remember you're doing so as the continuing employer of people with their full accumulated service, not as a fresh start. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you understand what that means for any changes you're planning.