Employers need to protect their customer base. Employees need to
retain control and autonomy over their lives. The potential
conflict between basic tenets of the employer-employee relationship
are readily apparent in Donaldson Travel Inc v Murphy, 2016
ONCA 649 [Donaldson Travel]. In that recent decision, Ontario
Court of Appeal emphasizes the difference between non-solicit and
non-compete clauses in employment agreements, and remind us that
courts prefer not to interfere with an individual's ability to
earn a living any more than is reasonably necessary.
While post-termination non-competition clauses that restrict
individuals from working in the same industry as their former
employer may be enforced by Canadian courts in some cases, they are
considered prima facie unenforceable for restraint of
trade. By comparison, if sufficiently limited in scope,
post-termination non-solicitation clauses are generally perceived
as more reasonable. They allow individuals to
