Are there special notice rules if my employer conducts a mass layoff in Ontario?

Yes. Ontario's Employment Standards Act includes specific rules that apply when an employer terminates a significant number of employees at the same establishment within a short period, on top of the notice rules that apply to an individual termination. These group termination provisions can trigger additional statutory notice requirements and reporting obligations to the province, layered on whatever individual notice each affected employee would otherwise be entitled to under the ordinary rules.

The exact thresholds and figures involved in these provisions change and should always be confirmed against the current ESA guidance rather than assumed, since the group termination rules are more technical than the standard individual notice provisions most people are familiar with. Employees affected by a mass layoff should also remember that these ESA provisions remain just a statutory floor - common law reasonable notice considerations for each individual employee continue to apply on top of, rather than instead of, the group termination rules, so a mass layoff does not automatically limit anyone to only the statutory minimum.