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Quitting Your Job in Canada: How Much Notice to Give and What You're Owed

Updated

Whether you have to give notice when you quit depends on the law that covers your job (which law covers you). Several laws, Alberta’s and Nova Scotia’s among them, set a written notice that depends on how long you’ve worked for the employer. B.C., New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories and the Canada Labour Code require none; Ontario’s Act sets one for an employee resigning during a mass termination; and Quebec’s labour standards Act sets none, though the Civil Code requires reasonable notice. Two weeks is the top tier of Nova Scotia’s scale and the single figure in Saskatchewan’s rule, not a national rule. The federal page adds that an employment contract may require notice even where the law doesn’t. The sections below go on to final pay, severance, benefits, your Record of Employment (ROE) and EI.

How much notice do you have to give when you quit?

The table sets out each law’s notice by length of service, noting where a source says it has to be in writing, when none is needed, and what the employer may do once you’ve given it.

Notice an employee must give when quitting, when it is not needed, and what the employer may do after notice
JurisdictionNotice the employee givesWhen notice is not neededWhat the employer may do after notice
AlbertaMore than 90 days to less than 2 years: 1 week
2 years or more: 2 weeks
Service before notice is owed: None needed up to 90 days of employment
In writing		Not required for: 90 days or less of employment; construction or brush clearing; a different established custom or practice in the industry; work that would endanger the employee's health or safety; a contract impossible to perform for unforeseeable causes beyond the employee's control; temporary layoff, or layoff after refusing reasonable alternate work; no work because of a strike or lockout; casual employees who choose whether to work; quitting because of a cut in wage rate, overtime rate, vacation pay, general holiday pay or termination payThe employer may pay out the notice period instead of having the employee work it, paying termination pay for the notice given up to the notice it would have owed to end the job; during notice it cannot reduce earnings or other terms, or make the employee use banked overtime, general holidays or (unless told in writing before notice) vacation
British ColumbiaNone required: employees who quit are not paid compensation for length of service, and giving notice is not requiredNot statedIf the employee gives notice, the employer can end the job sooner by paying the remaining notice given or the amount it would have owed had it ended the job, whichever is less
Manitoba30 days to less than 1 year: 1 week
1 year or more: 2 weeks
Service before notice is owed: None needed under 30 days of employment, or under a collective agreement's probationary period of a year or less		Not needed in the cases where the employer's own notice is not required (a fixed term that ends, a specific task of up to 12 months, construction, an arrangement where the employee may choose whether to work, a contract impossible to perform, a strike or lockout), when the employer acts in a way that is improper or violent toward the employee, or in other cases set by regulationNot stated
New BrunswickAn employee is not required to give notice when quitting a jobNot statedNot stated
Newfoundland and Labrador3 months to less than 2 years: 1 week
2 to less than 5 years: 2 weeks
5 to less than 10 years: 3 weeks
10 to less than 15 years: 4 weeks
15 years or more: 6 weeks
Service before notice is owed: Under 1 month of employment: no notice needed; the notice scale itself starts at 3 months
In writing
A collective agreement or written contract of service can set a different notice period, effective only if the employer's and the employee's periods are the same		Not needed where the employer has mistreated the employee, endangered the employee's health or well-being, or breached a material condition of the contract (in the opinion of the director or the Labour Relations Board); where the employee pays the employer an amount equal to what the employee would have earned in the notice period; for a firm non-renewable term or specific task of up to 12 months; or under 1 month of employmentNot stated
If notice is not given: An employee who quits without the notice required, outside the listed cases, can have an amount equal to normal earnings for the notice period taken from unpaid wages, but only with the employee's consent; without consent, the employer deposits the disputed amount with the director, who decides the issue
Nova Scotia3 months to less than 2 years: 1 week
2 years or more: 2 weeks
Service before notice is owed: 3 months
In writing		Not needed when employed under three months, or when the employer breaks the terms and conditions of employment (for example, fails to pay wages or cuts the pay rate or hours). The rule also does not cover on-site construction employees, real estate and automobile salespersons, some commissioned salespersons working outside the employer's place of business, fishing-boat workers, athletes, employees under a collective agreement, and some private-home domestic or personal-care workersThe employer may not change the pay rate or any other condition of employment such as hours or benefits once proper notice is given
If notice is not given: An employee who quits without the notice the Code requires can face a complaint: if the employer shows a financial loss or hardship, Labour Standards may find it entitled to keep all or part of the pay owed. Where the Code requires no notice, there is no basis for the employer to claim compensation
Northwest TerritoriesNone required; any notice an employee gives is a courtesyNot statedNot stated
NunavutNot statedNot statedNot stated
OntarioOnly in a mass termination: an employee who wants to resign before the date in the employer's notice must give 1 week's written notice if employed under 2 years, or 2 weeks if employed 2 years or more
In writing		The mass-termination resignation notice does not apply where the employer has constructively dismissed the employee or breached a term of the employment contract, whether or not the breach is a constructive dismissalAn employer that ends the job before the employee's notice takes effect has terminated the employment, and termination pay is owed
Prince Edward Island6 months to less than 5 years: 1 week
5 years or more: 2 weeks
Service before notice is owed: 6 months
In writing
A contract of service or recognized custom can entitle an employee or employer to more notice than the Act's minimums		Not statedNot stated
QuebecThe Act respecting labour standards sets no resignation notice; the Civil Code of Québec requires reasonable notice
A contract of indeterminate term ends when either side gives notice in reasonable time, taking into account the nature of the employment, the circumstances in which it is carried on and the length of the period of work		Not statedNot stated
Saskatchewan2 weeks
Service before notice is owed: 13 weeks of service
In writing		Not statedThe employer owes no notice or pay instead of notice when the employee voluntarily resigns or refuses to work out a notice period
Yukon6 months to less than 2 years: 1 week
2 to less than 4 years: 2 weeks
4 to less than 6 years: 3 weeks
6 years or more: 4 weeks
Service before notice is owed: 6 consecutive months
In writing		The notice Part does not apply to the construction industry; a seasonal or intermittent undertaking operating under six months a year; an employee whose employer has failed to abide by the terms of the employment contract; a contract impossible to perform because of an unforeseeable event; a project or assignment of up to 12 months; and, for the notice sections, employees represented by a trade union for collective bargainingNot stated
Federal (Canada Labour Code)The Canada Labour Code does not require notice of quitting; an employment contract may
An employment contract may require the employee to give notice		Not statedNot stated

“Not stated” means the source read for the table doesn’t say, not that no rule exists.

Does vacation count toward your notice? P.E.I.’s Act: Vacation the employee is entitled to cannot be counted as part of the notice period unless the employer approves. Alberta’s page says that once notice is given, the employer can’t make you use vacation during it unless it had already told you in writing to take that vacation before you gave notice.

Can you quit without giving notice?

Where a law asks for notice, its exceptions are in the table’s middle column. Short service is one: Nova Scotia’s list starts with an employee employed less than three months, and Alberta’s with one employed 90 days or less. Danger is another: Alberta’s list includes work that would endanger your health or safety, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s an employer that has endangered, or might endanger, your health or well-being.

The employer breaking the terms of the job appears in several lists:

  • Nova Scotia: the employer breaks the terms and conditions of employment, for example by not paying wages or by cutting your pay rate or hours. Nova Scotia’s page puts it plainly: “if an employer fails to pay an employee’s wages, the employee can quit without notice”.
  • Alberta: you quit because of a cut in your wage rate, overtime rate, vacation pay, general holiday pay or termination pay.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: the employer has mistreated you or breached a material condition of the contract.
  • Yukon: an employee “whose employer has failed to abide by the terms of the employment contract”.
  • Manitoba: the employer “acts in a manner that is improper or violent toward the employee”.

What can happen if you don’t give notice a law requires? Of the sources read for the table, Nova Scotia’s and Newfoundland and Labrador’s say:

  • Nova Scotia: An employee who quits without the notice the Code requires can face a complaint: if the employer shows a financial loss or hardship, Labour Standards may find it entitled to keep all or part of the pay owed. Where the Code requires no notice, there is no basis for the employer to claim compensation.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: An employee who quits without the notice required, outside the listed cases, can have an amount equal to normal earnings for the notice period taken from unpaid wages, but only with the employee's consent; without consent, the employer deposits the disputed amount with the director, who decides the issue.

The other sources read don’t address it. What an employer may deduct from pay you’ve already earned is on what your employer can’t take out of your pay.

Can your employer end the job right away once you’ve given notice?

The last column of the notice table, “What the employer may do after notice”, gives each law’s answer where its source states one; the other rows read “Not stated”. How much notice the employer itself would owe is on minimum notice by province.

What are you still owed when you leave?

Quitting doesn’t cancel pay you’ve earned: Alberta’s termination page counts a quit as a termination and lists vacation pay earned but not yet paid among the final earnings owed, B.C.’s interpretation guide includes unpaid vacation pay in the wages owing after an employee quits, and Nova Scotia’s page has the employer pay accumulated vacation pay after an employee gives proper notice. Vacation pay at the end of a job is covered on vacation pay when the job ends.

B.C.’s Act gives a quit its own final-pay deadline: Within 6 days after the last working day or the day the employee quit, whichever is later. The other laws’ deadlines are in the table under when you get your final pay, and my employer hasn’t paid me covers claiming final pay that doesn’t arrive.

Do you get severance or termination pay if you quit?

B.C.’s page says “Employees who quit their job are not paid compensation for length of employment”. For a federally regulated job, the federal page lists an employee who “terminates their own employment” among the cases where severance pay is not required.

Two cases can change this. Where the employer’s change to the job amounts to constructive dismissal, Alberta’s page says an employee who quits may be entitled to the termination pay they’d have been owed had the employer ended the job; the test is on constructive dismissal. And Ontario’s guide says an employee who has been given written notice of termination can resign and keep the right to severance pay, on the conditions set out in severance if you quit.

What happens to your benefits, pension and group RRSP?

Once you’ve given proper notice, Nova Scotia’s page says the employer may not change your benefits (see above). When group health, dental and life cover end, and whether it can be converted, are covered on when cover ends and conversion and portability. A workplace pension is covered on pension or lump sum and workplace pensions, and a group RRSP or employer match on what happens when you leave.

What will your Record of Employment say?

Your employer completes a Record of Employment whether or not you plan to apply for EI: Service Canada’s ROE guide tells employers “You must complete the ROE even if the employee does not intend to apply for EI benefits”. A resignation goes under code E, which Service Canada names “Quit”, and the guide says to use it “when the employee initiates the separation from employment”. What each code means is under ROE reason codes, and the routes for an ROE that is late, missing or wrong under late, missing or wrong ROE.

Can you get EI if you quit?

EI applies its own test to a resignation: the Employment Insurance Act disqualifies a claimant who “voluntarily left any employment without just cause”. When you apply, Service Canada’s page says that “if you quit or were dismissed, you will need to provide your version of the facts”.

You had just cause for quitting if you had no reasonable alternative to leaving, considering all the circumstances, such as harassment, dangerous working conditions, having to care for a family member, or a reasonable assurance of another job.

What counts, and the evidence that helps, is on can you get EI if you quit.

Can you take back a resignation?

  • Ontario (its employment standards manual): Notice of resignation, once given, cannot be withdrawn unless the employer agrees; the exception is a resignation announced in the heat of the moment and withdrawn quickly. Ontario’s manual adds: “This Program policy reflects the common law”.
  • Alberta: If the employee keeps working past the resignation date given, the notice is no longer valid and the employee stays employed until either side gives new notice.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: A notice has no effect if the contract of service continues beyond the expiry date set in the notice.

The other sources read for the table don’t address it.

What does a written resignation need to say?

The sources read ask these things of the notice itself:

  • In writing, where the law says so: Nova Scotia, Alberta and Saskatchewan among them (the “In writing” note in the table).
  • Addressed to the employer, and “given in person, sent electronically or otherwise provided to the employer” (Alberta).
  • Your last day (Saskatchewan): The notice must state the last day on which the employee is ending their employment.
  • At least the minimum period: Alberta’s notice must be “for the correct notice period or longer”.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 29, 2026 and October 16, 2026. How we check facts.