Severance Pay for Older Employees in Ontario
Older employees often get more severance, not less. Age is a key factor in reasonable notice, and being targeted because of your age can be age discrimination.
Key takeaways
- Older employees often get more severance, not less, because age increases reasonable notice.
- Age is one of the core factors courts weigh, since older workers usually take longer to find comparable work.
- A long-serving, older, senior employee can approach the 24-month ceiling.
- Being singled out because of your age can be age discrimination on top of wrongful dismissal.
- Mandatory retirement is generally banned in Ontario.
In this article
There is a worry many older workers have when they are let go: that being closer to retirement means they will be offered less. In Ontario, the law often points the other way. Age tends to increase what you are owed, and if your age was the reason you were targeted, that is a separate problem for your employer.
✅Quick answer. Older employees frequently receive more severance, because age is one of the main factors that lengthens common law reasonable notice. A long-serving, older employee in a senior role can be owed close to the 24-month maximum. And if you were chosen for termination because of your age, that can be age discrimination, adding a human rights claim on top.
Why older employees often get more severance
Common law severance is built around how long it will reasonably take you to find comparable work. Courts have long recognized that older employees usually face a harder, slower job search. Age is therefore one of the central factors, and it tends to push reasonable notice up, especially when combined with long service and a senior or specialized role.
How age fits with the other factors
Age does not work alone. It combines with your length of service, the nature of your role, and the availability of similar work. A 58-year-old with 25 years of service in a specialized position is the classic profile for a notice award near the top of the range. The same factors are explained in our guide to how severance is calculated.
Can you reach the 24-month maximum?
It is realistic for the right profile. Ontario courts treat 24 months as the usual ceiling, reached only in strong cases, and a long-serving older employee with limited re-employment prospects is exactly the kind of case that approaches it. In genuinely exceptional circumstances, awards can even exceed 24 months.
Real Ontario decisions bear this out for older workers:
- Groves v. UTS Consultants (2020 ONCA 630): a 65-year-old with 25 years of service was awarded 24 months.
- Maynard v. Johnson Controls (2023 ONCA 392): about 14 years of service produced 18 months.
- Antchipalovskaia v. Guestlogix (2022 ONCA 454): a 55-year-old with 8 years of service received 7 months, showing that even a shorter-tenured older employee draws meaningful notice.
When is it age discrimination?
If your age was a factor in the decision to let you go, that is age discrimination under the Human Rights Code, not just a wrongful dismissal. Red flags include being replaced by someone much younger, comments about retirement or being "slower," or older staff being disproportionately chosen in a restructuring. Mandatory retirement is also generally prohibited in Ontario.
What should you do?
- 1.Do not assume a near-retirement age means a smaller package; it often means a larger one.
- 2.Keep any comments or documents that suggest your age was a factor.
- 3.Do not sign the offer before you know your real entitlement.
- 4.Get advice. A free review can value your notice and flag any age-discrimination claim.
Frequently asked questions
Do older employees get more severance in Ontario?
Often yes. Age is a key factor in reasonable notice, because older employees usually take longer to find comparable work. Combined with long service and a senior role, it can push notice close to the 24-month maximum.
Can I be forced to retire in Ontario?
Generally no. Mandatory retirement is prohibited, and being pushed out because of your age can be age discrimination under the Human Rights Code.
Is being let go because of my age legal?
No. If your age was a factor in the decision, that is age discrimination, which can entitle you to human rights damages on top of your wrongful dismissal severance.
How much severance can an older long-service employee get?
Potentially close to the 24-month ceiling, depending on age, length of service, the role, and the job market. Older, long-serving, senior employees are the classic profile for awards near the top of the range.
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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