A company can use the same job title, the same payroll platform and the same termination meeting script in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. The employment standards calculation still won't be the same. An employer that applies one Canadian severance formula across its workforce risks missing provincial notice requirements, final pay deadlines and separate categories of employee entitlement. The better starting point is to identify where the employee works, whether a federal regime applies and what the contract says before asking payroll to prepare the final figures. Ontario requires more than choosing a number of weeks. Under the Employment Standards Act, qualifying employees normally become entitled to notice or termination pay after 3 months of continuous employment. The required statutory notice generally rises with service to a maximum of 8 weeks. Statutory severance pay is a separate entitlement subject to its own service and employer eligibility requirements, so HR can't use the word severance as a synonym for notice pay. Ontario also requires benefit plan contributions during the statutory notice period and provides for vacation pay on termination pay.
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