Ontario Appeal Court Upholds 'At Any Time' Clauses in 2 ESA Termination Cases

3 articles · Updated · Ogletree Deakins · Aug 6

Two Ontario employment disputes ended with the Court of Appeal ruling that without-cause clauses using “at any time” or “at any time and for any reason” are enforceable when the contract preserves ESA minimum entitlements.
The court said termination provisions must be read in context, not by isolating phrases, and held those words do not authorize dismissals barred by the Employment Standards Act, such as reprisals or leave-related terminations.
In Baker, involving a 71-year-old controller earning $95,000, the court also upheld a with-cause clause that used a broader contractual standard because it expressly protected statutory minimums.
The ruling resolves conflicting lower-court outcomes in Baker and Li, where a Wayfair Canada manager earning $221,546 challenged nearly identical wording, and gives employers a clearer framework for drafting ESA-compliant contracts.

Sources

Ogletree Deakins14d ago

Ontario Court of Appeal Clarifies "At Any Time" Termination Clause Enforceability

MLT Aikins14d ago

B.C. Court of Appeal endorses a “practical, common-sense approach” to the interpretation of termination clauses | Insights | MLT Aikins

Ogletree Deakins14d ago

Ontario Court of Appeal Upholds "At Any Time" Termination Language, Clarifies Contract Interpretation

Could your employment contract's "at any time" clause secretly cost you months of common-law severance pay after this new ruling?

Will the courts' new contextual approach finally protect businesses from massive payouts, or just create new legal loopholes?

Ontario Court of Appeal Resolves "At Any Time" Clause Uncertainty: Key 2026 Ruling in Baker and Wayfair Restores Contractual Certainty for Employers

Overview

Ontario employment law faced years of uncertainty after the 2020 Waksdale decision, which made any technical flaw in a contract’s termination provisions fatal. This led to aggressive legal challenges and conflicting lower court rulings, especially over 'at any time' language in termination clauses. The split between cases like Dufault/Baker and Li/Jones created chaos for employers. To resolve this, the Ontario Court of Appeal consolidated the key cases and, in August 2026, ruled that such clauses are enforceable if the contract as a whole respects statutory rights. This restored contractual certainty for employers and raised the bar for employees to challenge termination clauses.

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