Quitting vs. Being Fired in Ontario: EI and Severance
Whether you quit or were fired changes everything: your EI eligibility and whether you are owed severance. And being pushed out is not the same as quitting.
Key takeaways
- If you quit voluntarily, you usually get no severance and may be disqualified from EI.
- If you are fired without cause or laid off, you generally qualify for EI and are owed severance.
- Being forced to quit is not really quitting, and may preserve both your EI and your severance.
- The Record of Employment (ROE) code your employer uses affects your EI, and you can dispute it.
- Severance pay can delay when your EI benefits start, since it is allocated over a period.
In this article
How your job ends is not just a formality. The label, quit or fired, drives two big things: whether you can collect Employment Insurance, and whether you are owed severance. Getting it wrong, or letting your employer mischaracterize it, can cost you on both.
✅Quick answer. If you quit voluntarily, you generally get no severance and may be denied EI. If you are fired without cause or laid off, you usually qualify for EI and are owed severance. But if you were pushed out, a forced resignation or constructive dismissal is treated as a dismissal, not a true quit, which can protect both.
Does it matter whether you quit or were fired?
A great deal. Severance is owed when an employer ends your job without cause, not when you choose to leave. And EI eligibility turns heavily on the reason your employment ended. So the same departure can leave you with full severance and EI, or with neither, depending on how it is characterized.
EI when you quit
If you quit voluntarily without "just cause" as EI defines it, you are generally disqualified from regular EI benefits. EI's idea of just cause is specific and narrower than you might expect, covering things like harassment, unsafe conditions, or a major unilateral change to your job. Simply being unhappy or wanting a change usually does not qualify.
EI when you are fired or laid off
If you are let go without cause or laid off for shortage of work, you generally qualify for EI, assuming you meet the usual hours and other requirements. The exception is being fired for genuine misconduct, which can disqualify you, but employers allege misconduct more often than they can prove it. See fired with cause vs. without cause.
What if you were forced to quit?
Then it may not be a quit at all. If your employer coerced you into resigning, or made your job intolerable, the law can treat it as a dismissal. That characterization matters for both EI and severance, which is why you should not simply accept a resignation label if you were really pushed out.
When a court agrees you were constructively dismissed, you are owed the same reasonable notice as anyone fired outright, and for long-service employees that can be substantial. In Scarrow v. Walkey (2024 ONSC 3876), an employee effectively pushed out after 40 years was awarded 24 months of pay. In McLean v. Dynacast Ltd. (2019 ONSC 7146), a 58-year-old specialized technician with 34 years of service recovered 28 months, above the usual 24-month soft ceiling. In Gent v. Strone Inc. (2019 ONSC 155), a 53-year-old with 23.5 years received 18 months. The lesson is that a forced departure is not a walk-away; treated properly, it can be worth as much as any dismissal, and it keeps your EI intact.
Quit, or pushed out? The difference is your severance
If you were forced out, it is a dismissal, not a quit. Estimate what the severance claim is worth with our free calculator.
The Record of Employment and why the code matters
When your job ends, your employer issues a Record of Employment with a reason code (for example, quit, dismissal, or shortage of work). Service Canada uses that code in deciding your EI claim. If your employer marks you as having quit when you were really dismissed or forced out, it can jeopardize your benefits, and you can dispute it.
How severance affects your EI
Severance and termination pay can delay when your EI benefits start, because Service Canada allocates that money over a period and you generally cannot collect EI for the same weeks. It does not usually reduce the total benefits, but it can change the timing. This is worth planning when you negotiate how a severance package is paid out.
What should you do?
- 1.Do not resign in the heat of the moment, since it can cost you both EI and severance.
- 2.Check the reason code on your ROE and dispute it if it is wrong.
- 3.Do not accept a "quit" characterization if you were pushed out.
- 4.Get advice. A free review can confirm whether you were really dismissed and what you are owed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get EI if I quit my job in Ontario?
Usually not. Quitting voluntarily without just cause as EI defines it generally disqualifies you from regular benefits. EI's just cause is narrow, covering things like harassment or unsafe conditions, not simply wanting to leave.
Do I get severance if I quit?
Generally no. Severance is owed when an employer ends your job without cause. But if you were forced to quit or constructively dismissed, that is treated as a dismissal and you may be owed severance.
My employer put 'quit' on my ROE but I was fired. What can I do?
You can dispute the Record of Employment with Service Canada. An incorrect code can jeopardize your EI. Keep your records, and get advice if you were really dismissed or forced out.
Does severance affect my EI benefits?
It can delay when they start, because Service Canada allocates severance over a period during which you generally cannot also collect EI. It usually changes the timing rather than the total.
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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