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Jurisdiction

• Employment standards are mostly provincial and territorial — there are 13 separate regimes, so rules differ by region.
• Only about 6% of workers (banks, airlines, telecom, interprovincial transport, federal government) fall under the federal Canada Labour Code.
• Canada has no "at-will" employment: ending a job without cause always requires notice or pay in lieu.

Employment Contracts

Written contracts are standard and strongly recommended, since enforceable termination clauses can limit costly common-law notice. In Quebec, hiring communications and contracts must generally be available in French under the Charter of the French Language (Bill 96).

Working Hours and Overtime

The standard workweek is generally 40 hours. The overtime threshold varies by jurisdiction — 40 hours in Quebec, Newfoundland & Labrador, and the federal sector, 44 in Ontario and New Brunswick, and 48 in Nova Scotia and PEI. Overtime is paid at 1.5×, and British Columbia uniquely requires double time after 12 hours in a single day.

Probationary Period

A probationary period of around 3 months is common. In many provinces, an employee terminated within the first 3 months is not entitled to statutory notice — but this is set province by province.