Does continuity of service reset if I structure the deal as an asset purchase instead of shares?

Not automatically, and this is one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of buying a business. Structuring a deal as an asset purchase changes the legal employer — you're a new, separate entity from the seller — but under the Employment Standards Act, where a business (or part of a business) is sold as a going concern and you hire the seller's employees, the law deems their employment not to have been terminated, and their prior service with the seller counts as service with you for entitlements like vacation, leaves, and notice or severance.

The one real limit is timing: this continuity generally doesn't apply if you hire the employee more than thirteen weeks after the earlier of their last day working for the seller or the date of the sale. Outside that window, continuity can fail to apply even in an otherwise typical going-concern sale.

So an asset purchase changes who your legal employer is, but it doesn't, by itself, reset an employee's accumulated service the way people often assume. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you understand exactly how this applies to your specific hiring timeline.