Fixed-Term Employment Agreement
Employment for a defined period, with a defined end.
A contract between an employer and an employee that sets out role, compensation, benefits, termination terms, and obligations like confidentiality and IP assignment. In Canada, an employment agreement operates alongside (and can't remove) minimum protections set by provincial or federal employment standards legislation, so getting the termination and notice provisions right matters.
- Business days
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- Surprise bills
- $0Surprise bills
What a Fixed-Term Employment Agreement should include
Term — the start and end dates, stated unambiguously.
Early termination — the clause that matters most here, because without one the remainder of the term can be owed.
Renewal — what happens at the end, and how the arrangement is either extended or closed out.
Compensation — salary and any pro-rated entitlements across the term.
Confidentiality and IP — the same protections as any employee.
Status on expiry — confirmation that continuing to work does not silently convert the arrangement.
When you need one
For genuinely time-limited work — a parental-leave replacement, a funded project, a seasonal role. It is the wrong instrument for testing someone out: an indefinite agreement with a probationary period is the usual route for that.
How Ruby drafts it
Tell us what you need
Describe the agreement, your business context, and how fast you need it. A few smart questions, not a legal questionnaire. Your price and turnaround are confirmed before anything starts.
Ruby drafts it
Once pricing is confirmed a qualified Ruby lawyer is assigned to your file, and the first draft is built from your answers and real Canadian statute.
A licensed lawyer reviews every line
A lawyer licensed in Canada reviews and finalizes the document before it reaches you, and writes the plain-language summary that comes with it.
Signed, stored, and yours to revisit
You get the final agreement and its summary, stored so you can come back to it rather than hunting through email for the current version.
The fee is set before any of that starts. Hourly billing moves as scope does; a flat fee is one number, confirmed in writing, that doesn’t change after the work is done. See how Ruby prices agreements.
Or did you mean one of these?
These get confused with a Fixed-Term Employment Agreement often enough to be worth ruling out before you buy the wrong document.
Questions people ask
The arrangement can be treated as having become indefinite, which changes what is owed on termination. If you want the term to end, end it; if you want the person to stay, paper the change.
Because without a right to end it early, ending it early can mean owing the balance of the term. That is the single biggest difference in risk between a fixed-term and an indefinite agreement.
You can, but a succession of renewals starts to look like ongoing employment, and it invites the argument that the relationship is indefinite in substance. If the work is ongoing, an indefinite agreement is the cleaner answer.
Looking for the plain definition rather than the document? See Fixed-Term Employment Agreement in the Ruby legal glossary.
This page is general information about Canadian business law and is not legal advice. Laws differ by province and change over time, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. For advice on your situation, speak with a lawyer licensed in your province.
Need a Fixed-Term Employment Agreement?
Ruby drafts it for a flat $499 CAD, confirmed before any work begins, with a licensed Canadian lawyer on every document.