Lightspeed Commerce Layoffs: What Ontario Employees Are Owed in Severance
The signing date on a Lightspeed Commerce package is set by the employer, not by law. The ESA floor is counted in weeks, and the common law often adds months on top.
Key takeaways
- Check that notice pay and severance pay appear as two separate amounts. If the package shows one figure, you cannot tell whether s. 65 severance pay was added on top of notice.
- Check that your health and dental coverage runs through the notice weeks. The ESA requires the employer to keep up benefit contributions for the statutory notice period, not just your pay.
- Check your vesting schedule against the end of your notice period. Grants landing inside it should appear as a dollar figure in the offer, not as a forfeiture.
- Check the offer letter you signed when you were hired. The termination clause that tries to hold you to the ESA minimum usually sits there, not in the package.
- Check your Record of Employment when it arrives. It should record a layoff, not a quit, and the same last day as your letter.
In this article
✅Quick answer. Lightspeed Commerce has announced layoffs. If you work in Ontario, you are owed ESA notice or pay in lieu, ESA severance pay once you have 5 or more years and the payroll test is met, and usually several months more at common law unless a valid termination clause limits you.
What did Lightspeed Commerce announce?
| At a glance | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Announced | October 13, 2026 |
| Effective | Not disclosed |
| People affected | 250 roles, including some vacancies the company will not fill |
| Share of workforce | Not disclosed |
| Layoff or furlough | Layoff; the company calls it "organizational changes" |
| Canadian impact | Not disclosed; the company has offices in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto |
What should you do in the first 48 hours?
- The deadline is the employer's choice, not a legal one; ask in writing for more time.
- Do not sign the release yet; do not resign or agree to call it a resignation.
- Save what you can and ask HR in writing for your contract, plan documents and pay stubs.
- Note the date, who told you and what was said.
- Apply for EI online after your last day without waiting for the Record of Employment; over 4 weeks late can cost benefits.
👥If your colleagues got the same letter. Compare notes on what each person was offered. Count how many people at your location got a letter in the same 4 weeks, because 50 or more raises the ESA minimum. Nobody has to sign together on the employer's timetable; each of you can ask for time. Keep every letter.
Does Ontario law apply if your employer is based outside Ontario?
Yes. Under s. 3(1) of the ESA, the Act applies to you where your work "is to be performed in Ontario," wherever the parent company has its head office and whichever company in the group issues your pay stub.
What is the ESA minimum?
- Notice, ss. 54 and 57. Once you have 3 months of service you are owed written notice or pay in lieu: 1 week under a year, 2 weeks from 1 to 3 years, then 1 week per completed year up to 8 weeks.
- Group notice, s. 58. If 50 or more people at your location lose their jobs within 4 weeks, the minimum notice rises to between 8 and 16 weeks depending on how many; the count is per location, not company wide.
- Pay in lieu, s. 61. The employer can pay the notice weeks as a lump sum instead, but must pay at least your regular wages for them and keep your benefit plan contributions going.
- Severance pay, s. 64. It is owed if you have 5 or more years of service and the employer's payroll is $2.5 million or more, which most mid-sized or larger software employers meet.
- Amount, s. 65. 1 week of regular wages for each year of service, with partial years counted by month, capped at 26 weeks; at 6 years of service that is 6 weeks of pay on top of notice.
The mass termination rules explain how the group counts work.
What are you actually owed at common law?
The first package is usually built on the ESA floor, and common law severance usually sits well above it. How far above depends on the factors in Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd., 1960 CanLII 294 (ON SC): your age, your length of service, the kind of job you held and how much comparable work is out there for someone like you.
RSUs, options and bonus can add to those months; severance for tech workers covers the equity detail.
Compare your package with the ESA minimum and a court range
Enter your start date, age, role and pay to see your ESA weeks and a common law range for your profile. It is an estimate, not a promise.
What do tech severance packages usually get wrong?
- Packages often end RSUs and options on your last day, but in Wigdor v. Facebook Canada Ltd., 2026 ONCA 572, a recent (August 2026) Court of Appeal decision, that court held RSUs that would have vested during the notice period were recoverable.
- A bonus plan that only requires you to be actively employed on the payout date does not cut off the bonus you would have earned over the notice period (Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc., 2016 ONCA 618).
- If one sentence in the termination section breaks the ESA, often the for cause paragraph, the whole clause fails and you are back to common law notice (Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391).
What should you do before you sign?
The release is the one step you cannot undo, so have the numbers checked against the ESA minimum, the court ranges for your profile and your vesting schedule first. Book a free severance review and send the letter, your contract and your equity statements with it; the firm works on a percentage of what it recovers, and there is no fee if nothing is recovered.
This article is general information about Ontario law. It is not legal advice about your situation.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the date on the letter passes and I have not signed?
The employer may withdraw whatever it offered above the ESA, but your legal entitlements do not expire with the letter. ESA notice or pay in lieu and any ESA severance pay are still owed, and a common law claim does not depend on the offer staying open.
Is a package above the ESA minimum enough?
Not necessarily. Beating the ESA floor says nothing about whether the offer matches common law notice, which for many tech workers is several months more. Compare the offer in months with the court ranges for your profile before you decide.
What if I am offered a different role instead of a package?
Under O. Reg. 288/01, s. 2(1), an employee whose employment ends after refusing an offer of "reasonable alternative employment" with the employer loses ESA notice and termination pay. At common law, a court can also ask whether taking the role would have been a reasonable way to reduce your losses (Evans v. Teamsters Local Union No. 31, 2008 SCC 20). Get the new role reviewed before you turn it down.
How many years do I need for ESA severance pay?
You need 5 or more years, and s. 65(2) counts all time with the employer "whether or not continuous and whether or not active." Leaves and an earlier stint with the same employer can push you over the line.
Daniel Carter
Legal Writer, Mirza Law
Daniel Carter is a legal writer at Mirza Law in Toronto. He writes about layoffs, employment contracts, and the steps to take before you sign anything from your employer.
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