Wrongful Dismissal in Alberta: Know Your Rights

Losing your job is stressful, and the circumstances surrounding a termination can make it even more difficult. If you have been dismissed from your employment without cause in Alberta, you may be entitled to far more compensation than what your employer initially offers. Understanding your rights is the first step toward protecting yourself.

What Is Wrongful Dismissal?

In Alberta, most employees work under indefinite employment relationships without a fixed end date. When an employer terminates an employee without cause, the law requires the employer to provide reasonable notice of the termination, or pay the employee instead of giving that notice. Wrongful dismissal occurs when an employer fails to provide adequate notice or compensation upon termination.

It is important to understand a key distinction here. An employer generally has the right to terminate an employee without cause. That is not, on its own, wrongful. The legal issue is not whether the employer can let you go, but whether they have provided sufficient notice or severance when doing so.

Statutory Minimums Under the Employment Standards Code

Alberta’s Employment Standards Code (RSA 2000, c E-9, s. 56) sets out minimum notice periods based on how long you have worked for the employer:

If you have been employed for less than 90 days, you are in the statutory probationary period and have no notice entitlement under the Code.

These are the floor, not the ceiling. The Employment Standards Code sets the bare minimum that every employer must provide. Your actual entitlement under the common law is almost always significantly higher.

Common Law Reasonable Notice: The Bardal Factors

The framework for determining common law reasonable notice comes from the 1960 Ontario decision Bardal v Globe & Mail Ltd. It has been applied consistently by Alberta courts for decades.

The court in Bardal held that the reasonableness of notice must be decided with reference to each particular case, having regard to four factors:

Length of service. Employees who have worked for the employer longer are generally entitled to more notice. This is the most intuitive factor. Someone who gave 20 years to a company is in a fundamentally different position than someone who was there for two.

Age of the employee. Older employees often receive longer notice periods because they may face greater difficulty finding comparable employment. A 55-year-old professional will typically have a harder time re-entering the job market than a 30-year-old in the same field.

Character of employment. Senior, managerial, or specialized positions typically attract longer notice periods. A general manager with broad responsibilities and industry-specific expertise will generally receive more notice than an entry-level worker, all else being equal.

Availability of similar employment. If comparable jobs are scarce in your field, your region, or the broader economy, the notice period may be longer. This factor recognizes that market conditions affect how quickly a person can reasonably be expected to find equivalent work.

In practice, Alberta courts generally award between 1 and 24 months of common law reasonable notice, depending on the circumstances. Junior employees with short service might receive 1 to 4 months. Mid-level employees with moderate tenure typically receive 5 to 12 months. Senior employees with long service can expect 12 to 24 months.

Can the Notice Period Exceed 24 Months?

For a long time, 24 months was treated as a rough upper limit in Alberta. That changed in 2025.

In Lischuk v K-Jay Electric Ltd., 2025 ABKB 460, the Court of King’s Bench awarded 26 months of reasonable notice. The employee was 58 years old, had worked for the company for 34 years, and held the position of General Manager with highly specialized skills that were not readily transferable. The total damages exceeded $1.5 million.

The court found that the combination of extreme tenure, age, and the specialized nature of the role made this case truly exceptional. The 24-month figure remains a practical upper limit for most cases, but Lischuk confirms that Alberta courts will go beyond it when the facts warrant it.

Constructive Dismissal

Wrongful dismissal is not the only way an employer can violate your rights. Constructive dismissal occurs when the employer does not formally terminate you, but unilaterally makes a fundamental change to a core term of your employment contract that effectively forces you to resign.

Examples include a significant reduction in pay, a major demotion, a hostile work environment that goes unaddressed, or a forced relocation to a different city. If the change is substantial enough that it amounts to a breach of your employment contract, the law treats your resignation as a termination. You are entitled to the same reasonable notice damages as if you had been formally dismissed.

Constructive dismissal claims require careful analysis. Not every workplace change qualifies. The change must go to the heart of the employment relationship. If you believe your employer is making changes that are forcing you out, get legal advice before resigning.

Your Duty to Mitigate

Once you are terminated, you have a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to find comparable employment. This is called the duty to mitigate, and employers frequently raise it to argue that your damages should be reduced.

What does “reasonable” mean? You are expected to make genuine efforts to look for work that is comparable in compensation, duties, and level. You are not required to accept a substantially inferior position or relocate to a different city. The employer bears the burden of proving both that you failed to take reasonable steps and that comparable work was actually available.

If you earn income during the notice period from a new job, that income is typically deducted from your damages. And if a court finds that you made no meaningful effort to search for work, it may reduce your award. In Hill v Canyon Dental Center Ltd., 2025 ABCJ 163, a 14-year dental assistant was awarded 10 months of reasonable notice, but the court reduced it to 8 months after finding she had not adequately pursued new employment.

On the other hand, in Lischuk, the employer failed to prove that comparable work was available for a 58-year-old General Manager with 34 years of specialized experience. The employee’s lack of a job search did not reduce his award at all.

The takeaway: look for work, document your efforts, but know that the employer has to prove you fell short.

Damages Beyond Notice

In most wrongful dismissal cases, the primary remedy is pay in lieu of reasonable notice. But there are situations where additional damages may be available.

The Supreme Court of Canada addressed this in Honda Canada Inc. v Keays, 2008 SCC 39. The court held that where an employer’s conduct in the manner of dismissal is unfair or in bad faith and causes actual mental distress to the employee, moral or aggravated damages may be awarded. These are compensatory, meaning they are based on the actual harm suffered.

Punitive damages are also possible, but only in exceptional cases involving conduct that is, in the court’s words, “malicious and outrageous.” These are rare and reserved for the most egregious employer behaviour.

Separately, you remain entitled to any bonuses, commissions, or benefits that would have been earned during the reasonable notice period. The Supreme Court confirmed this principle in Matthews v Ocean Nutrition, 2020 SCC 26. If your employer had a bonus plan or stock option program that would have paid out during the notice period, you may be entitled to those amounts as part of your damages.

Termination Clauses in Employment Contracts

If you signed an employment contract that includes a termination clause, it may affect your entitlements. But not every termination clause is enforceable.

Alberta courts have consistently held that a termination clause must be clear, precise, and unambiguous. Any ambiguity is resolved in the employee’s favour. In Bryant v Parkland School Division, 2022 ABCA 220, the Alberta Court of Appeal found that the words “60 days or more” did not unambiguously cap common law reasonable notice. In Holm v AGAT Laboratories Ltd., 2018 ABCA 23, the phrase “at least” the statutory minimum was found not to restrict the employee to that minimum.

A critical rule: any termination clause that purports to limit notice below the minimums in the Employment Standards Code is void for that reason alone. The Code sets an absolute floor that cannot be contracted out of.

If your employment contract contains a termination clause, have it reviewed by a lawyer. Even clauses that appear to limit your entitlements may not hold up under scrutiny.

Just Cause: When the Employer Does Not Owe You Notice

There is one situation where an employer can terminate you without providing any notice at all: termination for just cause. But the bar is high.

The governing framework comes from the Supreme Court of Canada in McKinley v BC Tel, 2001 SCC 38. The employer must prove that the employee’s misconduct was sufficiently serious that it struck at the root of the employment relationship, and that dismissal was a proportionate response to the conduct.

The burden of proof rests entirely on the employer. For most conduct short of fraud, theft, or gross insubordination, courts expect progressive discipline: documented warnings, an opportunity to improve, and clear communication that termination will follow continued non-compliance.

If your employer claims they had just cause to terminate you, do not accept that characterization at face value. Many just-cause terminations do not hold up when challenged.

The Limitation Period

Under Alberta’s Limitations Act (RSA 2000, c L-12, s. 3), you have two years from the date your cause of action arises to file a wrongful dismissal claim. The clock generally starts running from the date you receive notice of termination, not your last day of work.

If you miss the two-year deadline, you lose your right to sue. Do not wait.

What Should You Do If You Are Terminated?

Do not sign anything immediately. Employers often present severance offers or release documents at the time of termination. You are not obligated to sign on the spot, and doing so before getting legal advice may cost you significantly. Many initial offers are well below what the law requires.

Review your employment contract. If you have a written contract with a termination clause, it may affect your entitlements. But as outlined above, many termination clauses are not enforceable.

Document everything. Save your termination letter, any severance offer, your employment contract, recent pay stubs, and any correspondence related to your dismissal. These documents are essential for assessing your claim.

Start looking for work. Your duty to mitigate begins immediately. Keep a record of every job you apply for, every interview you attend, and every recruiter you speak with.

Seek legal advice promptly. There are limitation periods that apply, and acting quickly gives your lawyer the best opportunity to negotiate a fair outcome on your behalf.

If you have been terminated and are unsure about your entitlements, contact our office for a consultation. Learn more about our employment law services. We can review your situation, assess the strength of your claim, and advise you on a sensible path forward.