Ontario Severance Pay Calculator (2026)
Statutory severance pay is a separate entitlement from termination notice, and it only kicks in past a specific threshold. Check whether you clear the ESA s.64 test, then see what the weeks are worth.
Estimated statutory severance pay
$0
The s.64 test, in plain terms
Statutory severance pay isn't for everyone who loses a job. It's aimed at long-service employees at sizeable employers, and the Employment Standards Act sets two doors into it. You need five or more years with the employer, and then either of the following:
- The employer has a payroll of $2.5 million or more. Courts have generally read this as the employer's global payroll, not only the Ontario part — so being at a small local branch of a larger company doesn't automatically put you under the threshold.
- The employer severed 50 or more employees in a six-month period because all or part of the business permanently closed. This route can qualify you even if the payroll is under $2.5 million.
Miss the five-year floor and there's no statutory severance — full stop. That doesn't mean you walk away with nothing: termination notice is a separate entitlement that starts at three months of service, and common-law reasonable notice can be larger still.
How the amount is worked out
The formula is straightforward once you qualify: your regular weekly wages times your length of service, where a part-year is counted by its completed months over twelve. Seven years and six months is 7.5 weeks; ten years and three months is 10.25 weeks. The ESA caps statutory severance at 26 weeks, so once you pass 26 years of service the number stops climbing.
This sits on top of termination notice, not instead of it. A qualifying employee with long service can collect up to eight weeks of notice pay and up to 26 weeks of severance — two separate cheques the ESA treats as two separate rights. The calculator above estimates the severance half. Work out the notice half on the ESA termination pay calculator.
Statutory floor vs. common-law — read this before you sign
Everything above is the ESA statutory figure — the legislated minimum. It is not the ceiling. A non-unionized employee dismissed without cause is usually owed common-law reasonable notice instead, which is decided as a range, not a formula: a court weighs your age, your length of service, the seniority of your role, and how realistic it is to find comparable work. As a rough band that often works out between about three weeks and a month for every year of service and rarely runs past 24 months — frequently far more than the statutory severance number here.
An offer that pays only the ESA minimum, packaged with a release to sign, is common. Signing it typically closes the door on the larger common-law claim. If you've been given a package, treat this estimate as a starting reference and get an employment lawyer to look at the actual paperwork before you sign anything.
Common questions
Who qualifies for statutory severance pay in Ontario?
You need five or more years with the employer, plus either a payroll of $2.5 million or more, or a permanent closure that severed 50+ employees in six months. Under five years, there's no statutory severance — though you may still be owed termination notice.
How is severance pay calculated?
Regular weekly wages times length of service — each completed year, plus leftover completed months divided by twelve. Seven years six months is 7.5 weeks; the ESA caps the total at 26 weeks.
What's the difference between severance pay and termination pay?
Two separate ESA entitlements you can be owed at the same time. Termination notice (one to eight weeks by service) covers almost everyone; statutory severance is extra and only applies once you clear the s.64 test of five-plus years and a $2.5 million payroll.
Does the $2.5 million payroll mean Ontario payroll or the whole company?
The employer's total payroll, which courts have read as global — not just the Ontario portion. A small Ontario office inside a larger organization can still be over the threshold, so don't assume you're under it.