The “At Any Time” Trap: Is Your Executive Contract Void?

As we move through 2026, the Ontario judiciary has launched a full-scale assault on standard termination clauses. Recent decisions like Dufault and Baker have sent shockwaves through Toronto boardrooms, with courts striking down contracts that claim an employer can terminate an executive “at any time” or at their “sole discretion.”

The Reality for 2026: If your employment agreement contains this seemingly standard language, it may be legally void. In Ontario, a “void” clause defaults you to Common Law Reasonable Notice, which can be as high as 24 months of total compensation.

At Randy Ai Law Office, we are seeing a surge in executives who were offered 6 months of severance, only for our team to discover their contract was unenforceable. Through our Severance Improvement Program™, we leverage these technical “drafting traps” to secure the two-year payouts our clients have actually earned.

• Executive Tip: Have your contract reviewed before you even consider a “voluntary” exit or a retirement package. The leverage you have today may disappear if the Court of Appeal recalibrates these rules later this year.