Adam Frankel
General Counsel · Technology & AI
15+ years as General Counsel to technology, cloud & AI companies
Employment Agreement (Full-Time, Indefinite) (Ontario) by OLL
Open Legal LibraryUpdated 18 Aug 2026
This template is for the direct, indefinite-term, full-time employment of an individual in Ontario. It is employer-side: drafted to be offered by the Employer. It is not suitable for an independent contractor engagement (use independent-contractor-services), a fixed-term role (use employment-fixed-term), or a role with reduced or variable scheduled hours (use employment-part-time).
This document comes from OLL's library of vetted legal templates
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT [FULL-TIME, INDEFINITE TERM]
This template is for the direct, indefinite-term, full-time employment of an individual in Ontario. It is employer-side: drafted to be offered by the Employer. It is not suitable for an independent contractor engagement (use independent-contractor-services), a fixed-term role (use employment-fixed-term), or a role with reduced or variable scheduled hours (use employment-part-time). Not suitable for use in Quebec.
Drafting notes appear in italics and are to be deleted before execution. Square brackets mark information to be filled in. Delete any inapplicable optional clauses and renumber before execution.
⚠️ This area of law is enforceability-volatile. Ontario courts read a termination clause as a single scheme. If any one provision anywhere in that scheme — the without-cause clause, the for-cause clause, or a clause elsewhere in the Agreement that touches termination — falls below the minimum standards set by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the "ESA"), courts have held that the entire termination clause is void, including the parts that comply on their own, and a severability clause does not rescue it (Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391, leave to appeal to the SCC denied). If the clause is void, the Employee is not limited to the ESA minimums — they are entitled to reasonable notice at common law instead, which can be substantially larger (Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd., [1992] 3 S.C.R. 1086). This is the single highest-risk drafting exercise in this library. Section 13 is drafted to track the current statutory floor rather than hard-coding numbers, but the case law interpreting what "tracks the floor" means keeps moving. Do not treat section 13 as safe because it was once reviewed — have it checked again before each significant use, and always before a mass rollout.
⚠️ Existing employees need fresh consideration. If this Agreement (or a new or more restrictive termination clause within it) is being introduced to someone who is already employed — as opposed to being offered at the point of hire — Canadian courts generally require the Employer to give the employee something of genuine value in exchange (for example a signing bonus, a promotion, or a meaningful increase in compensation). An existing employee asked to sign this Agreement for nothing in return risks the whole Agreement, not only the termination clause, being unenforceable against them. Take advice before rolling this Agreement out to existing staff.
THIS AGREEMENT is made as of [Date].
BETWEEN:
[Employer Legal Name], [a corporation incorporated under the laws of [Province / Canada] / a sole proprietorship / a partnership] having its principal place of business at [Employer Address]
(the "Employer")
— and —
[Employee Legal Name] of [Employee Address]
(the "Employee")
(each a "Party" and together the "Parties")
WHEREAS the Employer wishes to employ the Employee on a full-time, indefinite basis, and the Employee has agreed to accept that employment on the terms set out below;
NOW THEREFORE in consideration of the mutual covenants below, the Parties agree as follows:
This is a preview. The full template is free on GitLaw.
About this template
What is this template?
This is a comprehensive employment contract specifically for the province of Ontario that prioritizes compliance with the Employment Standards Act, 2000. It includes detailed termination options, moral rights waivers for intellectual property, and a Schedule A summary of key terms. It is not an independent contractor agreement or a fixed-term contract.
When should you use it?
Use this template when hiring a permanent full-time staff member in Ontario and you want to limit termination notice to statutory minimums or a fixed period. Use a fixed-term employment agreement instead if the role has a defined end date.
What's inside
| Clause | Name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Position and Duties | The Employee performs duties associated with a specific Job Title and must devote their full working time to the Employer. |
| 2 | Term and Probationary Period | Employment is indefinite and includes a probationary period of a specified number of days for suitability assessment. |
| 4 | Compensation | The Employer pays a base salary at a set frequency and may offer a discretionary bonus subject to the Employer's plan. |
| 8 | Workplace Policies | The Employer maintains a written policy on disconnecting from work if they employ 25 or more employees. |
| 10 | Intellectual Property | The Employee assigns all Work Product created within their scope of employment and waives all moral rights in favor of the Employer. |
| 11 | Non-Solicitation | The Employee is restricted from soliciting customers or employees for a defined number of months after termination. |
| 13 | Termination of Employment | The Employer may terminate without cause by providing either ESA minimums or an enhanced contractual notice period. |
| 13.4 | Constructive Dismissal | A significant unilateral change to compensation, position, or work location may be treated as a termination at common law. |
Who it's for
- an Ontario employer hiring a full-time employee on an indefinite basis
- an employer requiring ownership of intellectual property created by staff
- a company needing to restrict post-employment solicitation of customers and staff
- businesses with over 25 employees needing a disconnecting-from-work policy
How long it runs and how it's signed
How long
Runs until someone ends it
Stated duration
indefinite
Notice to end it
[Number] weeks' written notice
Survives the end
Confidentiality, Intellectual Property, Non-Solicitation, General
Signed by
Employer, Employee
Witness
Not required
Notarisation
Not required
Also needed
delivery of electronic counterparts
Law it's drafted under
Governed by
Employment Standards Act, 2000
Refers to
Working for Workers Act, 2021
Refers to
O. Reg. 288/01
Categories
Jurisdiction
Ontario (Canada)
Document info
GitLaw document. Document created on Mon Aug 17th, 2026. Last updated on Tue Aug 18th, 2026.
This document is public
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike).
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