Do You Have to Look for Work After Being Fired in Ontario?
After a dismissal you usually have to make reasonable efforts to find comparable work, and what you earn can reduce your severance. But the rules are narrower than employers claim.
Key takeaways
- After a without-cause dismissal you generally must make reasonable efforts to find comparable work. This is the duty to mitigate.
- Income you earn during the notice period can reduce your [common law severance](/blog/severance-pay-ontario), but not your ESA minimums.
- You only have to look for comparable work, not just any job, and not a demeaning one.
- The employer has the burden of proving you failed to mitigate.
- Keep a record of your job search; it protects your claim.
In this article
One of the first things people ask after being let go is whether they have to rush back into a job, and whether taking one will cost them their severance. In Ontario the answer is nuanced: you generally do have to look, but the rules are narrower and more favourable to you than employers often suggest.
✅Quick answer. After a without-cause dismissal, you have a duty to mitigate: to take reasonable steps to find comparable work. Money you earn from a new comparable job during your notice period can be deducted from your common law severance, though not from your ESA minimums. You do not have to take just any job, and the employer must prove you failed to mitigate.
Do you have to look for a new job?
Generally yes, if you are claiming common law severance. The law expects you to make reasonable efforts to find comparable employment, rather than sitting back and collecting your full notice period. It is a duty of reasonable effort, not a guarantee of success: you do not lose your claim just because your search takes time.
What counts as comparable work?
You only have to pursue work that is reasonably comparable in pay, status, and responsibilities to the job you lost. You are not required to accept a significant demotion, a much lower salary, or a humiliating role just to reduce your former employer's bill. A senior manager does not have to take an entry-level job to satisfy the duty. The Court of Appeal made this point in Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc. (2017 ONCA 402): a dismissed employee is not required to take substantially inferior work, and income from a job so far below her old role that she would not reasonably be expected to keep it does not count against her severance.
Real Ontario decisions show how much room you have to hold out for a comparable role:
- Ghazvini v. CIBC (2025 ONSC 5218): the employee turned down a step-down offer worth roughly 50,000 to 60,000 dollars a year less and instead pursued eight other roles at comparable financial institutions. The court found that reasonable and held CIBC had not proven any failure to mitigate.
- Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc. (2017 ONCA 402): a long-service manager offered a demotion to a lower position was entitled to refuse it, and lower-level earnings she took on were not deducted from her award.
How does new income affect your severance?
If you find a comparable job during your notice period, the income you earn from it is generally deducted from your common law severance for the overlapping period only. Importantly, this applies to your common law entitlement, not your ESA statutory termination and severance pay, which you keep regardless of what you earn afterward. See the difference in termination pay vs severance pay.
The timing matters as much as the amount. In Chan v. NYX Capital Corp. (2025 ONSC 4561), the employee found a new job about five months after being let go, which was after his three-month notice period had already run, so his new income reduced nothing. In Miller v. Alaya Care Inc. (2025 ONSC 1028), the court accepted that the employee reasonably took time to process the termination and help her elderly parents before her search, then landed a comparable role, and only the salary difference during the overlapping months of the fourteen-month notice period was deducted. Income you earn after the notice period ends is yours to keep.
Who has to prove you did not try?
The employer. If your former employer wants to reduce your severance by arguing you failed to mitigate, it has the burden of showing both that comparable jobs were available and that you did not take reasonable steps to pursue them. The Supreme Court set this standard in Red Deer College v. Michaels (1975), and Ontario courts still apply it as a heavy onus on the employer. That is a harder case to make than employers often assume. In Panchbhaya v. Vulsay Industries Ltd. (2025 ONSC 5370), the employee applied for 103 positions over 15 months; the employer could not point to a single specific job he should have taken, so the court deducted nothing and awarded 26 months of notice. Documenting a genuine search is often enough to defeat the argument outright.
See your notice range before mitigation
Start with what you are owed, then mitigation is applied on top. Estimate your common law range with our free, case-law-calibrated calculator.
What should you do?
- 1.Make genuine efforts to find comparable work, and keep a record: applications, interviews, and responses.
- 2.Do not feel pressured to accept a much lesser role just to look cooperative.
- 3.Do not let the duty to mitigate scare you into signing a low offer. See whether you should sign that offer.
- 4.Get advice on your real entitlement. A free review accounts for mitigation properly.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to find a new job to get severance in Ontario?
For common law severance, you generally must make reasonable efforts to find comparable work. But it is a duty of reasonable effort, not a requirement to succeed, and your ESA minimums are not affected by it.
Does a new job reduce my severance?
Income from a comparable new job during your notice period can reduce your common law severance for the overlapping time. It does not reduce your ESA statutory termination and severance pay.
Do I have to take any job offered to me?
No. You only have to pursue work that is reasonably comparable in pay, status, and duties. You do not have to accept a significant demotion or a demeaning role to satisfy the duty to mitigate.
Who has to prove I did not try to find work?
The employer. To reduce your severance for failure to mitigate, it must show comparable jobs were available and that you did not take reasonable steps to pursue them.
Carmen Reyes
Legal Writer, Mirza Law
Carmen Reyes is a legal writer at Mirza Law in Toronto. She writes about constructive dismissal, workplace changes, and how Ontario employees can protect themselves when their job changes under them.
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