In a landmark victory for employee rights, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has cleared the path for 1,772 current and former Medcan employees to pursue full compensation for unpaid vacation and statutory holiday pay. This proceeding marks the first time an employment class action in Canada will advance to the individual issues trial stage.
The Court’s Ruling
On October 21, 2025, the Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion by Medcan Health Management Inc. (“Medcan”) that sought to limit class member claims to the bare minimums under the Employment Standards Act.
Justice Leiper ruled that the certified common issues do not restrict class members from seeking damages above and beyond statutory minimums. The Court decided that “Whether class members have entitlements greater than the employment standard under their contracts and as protected by the ESA [Employment Standards Act]Â is a question for the individual issues trials.”
Following the dismissal of that motion, Medcan agreed to settle the remaining common issues, effectively consenting to liability on the core issue of underpayment.
Justice Leiper approved the settlement of the common issues, which now allows the case to proceed to the individual issues stage to determine specific amounts owed to employees, including any benefits greater than the ESA minimums.
You can read the full October 21, 2025 Endorsement (Curtis v. Medcan Health Management Inc., 2025 ONSC 5945) where the Court dismissed Medcan’s motion to limit class member claims to ESA minimums.
Why This Matters
The class action (CV-20-00639259-00CP) alleges that Medcan failed to calculate vacation and statutory holiday pay based on “total wages,” which includes variable compensation such as commissions and bonuses. The class includes all variable compensation employees who worked for Medcan between April 7, 2005, and October 26, 2022.
“This is a momentous step for the class,” said Andrew Monkhouse, counsel for the plaintiffs. “The Court has rejected Medcan’s attempt to cap these claims at the lowest statutory standard. This is the first employee class action to reach individual trials with a defendant consenting to liability on the core issue of underpayment”.
Next Steps: Individual Damages
The litigation now moves to the individual issues stage to determine the specific amounts owed to each of the 1,772 class members. A protocol for the individual issues trial will be set by the Court and a hearing will be scheduled once materials are exchanged. While Medcan is expected to raise limitation period and release-based defences, the focus shifts to calculating the full value of benefits, including those exceeding ESA minimums, owed to the workers.
The Court has also set a timetable for determining the Individual Issues Protocol. See the February 5, 2026 Civil Endorsement (Individual Issues Timetable) for details of the next phase of the proceeding.
For more information about the Medcan vacation and holiday pay class action, click here.
About Monkhouse Law Employment Lawyers:
Monkhouse Law is a leading employment law firm in Toronto specializing in wrongful dismissal, human rights law, and denied long-term disability claims. We have a strong track record with class action cases representing employees in Canadian workplaces.
Our firm has certified and settled class actions against Approval Team, Deloitte, Workforce, Spectrum, AE Hospitality, VIB and Solar Brokers and has certified actions against other big employers such as Bank of Montreal, RBC Insurance Agency Ltd. and Aviva Insurance Co., Allstate and Medcan Health Management Inc. for vacation pay violations. Learn more about our current class actions and settled class actions.
For further information, contact us at monkhouselaw.com or 416-907-9249.