What happened
A New Brunswick court has ruled that an employer who offered a long-serving worker a renewal on much worse terms effectively dismissed him. The decision in Comeau v. Valcom Consulting Ltd., 2025 NBKB 253, was summarized by lawyers at Cassels, as reported by Talent Canada.
Timothy Comeau worked for Valcom as a senior project manager from 2009 to March 2024, first as a contractor and later as an employee on a series of fixed-term contracts. When the last one was about to expire, Valcom offered a new agreement with a 3 per cent raise. He expected 5 per cent. After he raised it, Valcom sent a revised agreement with the same raise plus new terms: an indefinite duration, termination limited to statutory minimums, and layoff and suspension provisions. He did not sign. Valcom did not follow up.
The Court rejected the argument that the old contract had simply expired and talks had failed. It found the new layoff, suspension and termination terms were essential, not fine print, and that Comeau's silence on them did not waive his rights. There was no evidence Valcom had pointed them out. Given 15 years of continuous service, the Court awarded 10 months' salary and benefits in lieu of notice. Comeau had asked for 17 to 28 months.
The Court also said Valcom had never told him his job was still open, so it could not claim he failed to mitigate by declining the revised deal.
Why it matters if you are hiring
Many Canadian employers rely on successive fixed-term contracts for project managers, technical staff and contract-to-hire roles. This ruling says a long run of renewals can be treated as continuous employment. Renewal time is not a clean slate.
If you want to tighten termination language, add layoff rights or change duration for someone already in the seat, you are making a material change. Doing it quietly, or without pointing out what changed, adds risk. Silence from the employer can be read against it.
It also affects how you handle stalled talks. If you want to argue the employee should have stayed on, you must show you told them the job remained available.
This is a general summary, not legal advice, and the case comes from New Brunswick. Employment law differs by province, so check with counsel in yours.
One thing to do this week
List every employee on a fixed-term contract expiring in the next six months, and note how long each has served continuously. For any renewal that changes termination, layoff or duration terms, flag it for legal review and plan a written, plain-language summary of each change to give the employee before they are asked to sign.
Traverse has placed operations, contract and professional talent with Canadian employers since 1997, and we help hiring teams set up contract and permanent roles with clear terms from the first offer.