Canadian employers entering 2026 face an uncomfortable reality: employment law is no longer forgiving, flexible or neutral.

Courts have made it clear that businesses that treat employment obligations as technicalities — or worse, inconveniences — will pay dearly for the miscalculation.

Survival in 2026 will not come from clever tactics. It will come from discipline.

1. Fix your contracts — or stop pretending you have them.

If your employment agreements predate the past year, assume they are defective. Termination clauses are being struck down with remarkable consistency, often for minor drafting flaws. Overreaching, confusing or overly technical language, internal inconsistencies or attempts to limit statutory rights are fatal. CEOs who believe a “standard form” protects them are gambling corporate money on wishful thinking.

The safest contract in 2026 will not be the most aggressive one. It will be the clearest, most conservative and most current.

2. Treat termination as a legal event, not an HR task.

Executives routinely delegate dismissals to HR or middle management with minimal oversight. This is a mistake courts punish. The manner of dismissal now matters almost as much as the amount paid. Abrupt meetings, careless language, delayed compensation and poor timing — holidays, medical leaves, complaint periods — invite aggravated damages.

Every termination should be planned, scripted and executed as if a judge was watching — because it is likely one will be.

3. Stop...

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