Just over half of Canadians support a ban on non-compete clauses in employment contracts, according to the newly released results from a survey on the issue.

Non-compete clauses, commonly found in competitive industries such as technology and finance, bar employees from working for their employer’s competitors for a period of time after leaving the firm.

The practice has been criticised for impeding labour mobility, and a survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute has found that 52 per cent of Canadians would support banning non-compete clauses altogether. 

Ontario is currently the only province that restricts the inclusion of non-compete clauses in work contracts, after passing legislation that banned all forms of the practice in 2021.

Angus Reid’s survey, published Thursday, found that 27 per cent of respondents said they oppose a ban on non-compete clauses, while 20 per cent of people said they weren’t sure.


“Advocates for non-compete clauses suggest that they are needed to prevent competitors from gaining an unfair advantage when hiring recently departed employees from rivals,” Angus Reid said in a press release on the findings.

“This argument is more popular among Canadians older than 54 but does not rise higher than 32 per cent among any age and gender grouping.”

Support for banning non-compete clauses nationwide was highest in Ontario and British Columbia, the survey found.

METHODOLOGY

The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from Aug. 25-29, 2023, among a representative randomized sample of 2,023 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum.

For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI

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