Can I insist certain employees stay with the seller instead of transferring with the assets?

Yes — in an asset purchase, a buyer generally has no statutory obligation to hire any of the seller's employees, which means you can choose to make offers only to the staff you want and leave the rest as the seller's employees, subject to whatever the seller decides to do with them, including termination.

The nuance is that this choice has consequences for the seller, not you, and it's worth being clear-eyed about that when negotiating. Employees you decline to hire remain the seller's responsibility, including any termination or severance entitlements owed under the Employment Standards Act, which can affect what the seller is willing to accept as price or terms if they're left holding those costs. It's also worth remembering that this flexibility exists specifically because it's an asset purchase — in a share purchase, the employer corporation doesn't change at all, so there's no mechanism to leave specific employees behind this way.

Deciding early which employees you actually want, and being upfront with the seller about it during negotiation rather than after signing, avoids surprises for both sides. A business lawyer can help document exactly who's included and confirm what that means for the seller's own obligations to everyone else.