It’s important to know that if you’re face with the situation of a non-competition agreement either at the beginning of employment or being asked to live by the terms of one at the end of your employment that the law has changed in the last number of years. In 2008, there was an important decision at the Ontario Court of Appeal which is our highest and most binding authority in Ontario. Essentially, the judges have now ruled that non-competition agreements will only be held enforceable in a very extreme and unusual circumstances. If there are other ways for an employer to protect the legitimate business interests such as confidentiality clauses or non-solicitation clauses, the court will prefer to allow the employer to abide by those clauses instead of a non-competition agreement. A non-competition agreement could have the effect of limiting your ability to work and judges don’t want that. It’s important to know that if you have to discuss whether or not you can get out of the terms of a non-competition agreement, you get appropriate legal advice first.

If you have any questions, please contact us at SBMB law or visit our website.