Lost Your Job? What to Do in the First 7 Days

Losing your job is one of the most difficult setbacks many people face. To recover with clarity, experts recommend allowing time to process emotions, understanding your legal entitlements, and seeking professional guidance for both legal and financial matters. These steps can help you move forward with your career and finances.

The experience of being laid off often follows the familiar stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, eventually, acceptance. Job loss affects more than your paycheck — it can erode daily routines, workplace relationships, identity and purpose.

“People don’t always equate grieving with job loss,” says Farah Kotadia, founder of Wellness Works Counselling in Vancouver. “Sitting with our grief also creates space to reflect and plan next steps, so take the time to grieve.”

If you miss former colleagues, Kotadia suggests reaching out to them. Reflect on what aspects of the role you enjoyed and where your passion lies. Grief after a layoff can last a few weeks, several months, or even longer. Some days you may feel energized and submit multiple applications; other days you may struggle to get out of bed. Both reactions are normal.

“That’s OK. That’s normal. That will happen,” Kotadia adds.

Consider legal advice before signing a severance agreement

When emotions run high after a layoff, employment lawyers urge caution and patience. Avoid reacting impulsively toward former colleagues or employers, as negative comments could create legal complications and make severance negotiations harder.

“Don’t use this moment to tell your boss everything you dislike or to bad-mouth the company,” says Lior Samfiru, national co-managing partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP. “Those actions can lead to legal trouble and complicate severance discussions.”

Many people misunderstand provincial employment standards, which often set a minimum such as one week of pay per year of service. Those minimums are just a baseline. After considering factors like age, length of employment, industry, any medical issues, and local unemployment rates, a fair severance package can be substantially higher—sometimes many times the statutory minimum. For that reason, documentation that shows a complete view of your earnings (employment agreements, bonus plans, commission histories) is essential to estimate your true entitlement.

Samfiru notes that a large share of initial severance offers are inadequate. He has seen clients offered a single month’s pay when they were entitled to six months. He also warns that employer-imposed acceptance deadlines are often pressure tactics. “Your legal rights don’t expire at five on Friday,” he says. “You generally have two years to pursue your claim.”

Professional legal advice can determine whether the offer meets your entitlements and can help negotiate better terms. Lawyers can also arrange tax-efficient structures for severance, such as deferring payments to a low-income year or rolling amounts into registered accounts where permitted. These strategies typically require legal and financial coordination.

Get financial guidance and take practical steps

Alongside legal counsel, speaking with a financial advisor can be invaluable—especially for people who have debt, monthly obligations or investment plans. A certified financial planner can help you prepare a realistic short-term budget, present a repayment plan to lenders, and reassess contributions to retirement accounts to preserve cash flow.

“Younger workers often prefer to manage finances independently,” says Andrea Andersen, a Certified Financial Planner at Edward Jones in Calgary, “but during a job loss it’s helpful to build a relationship with an adviser who can guide you.”

Advisers may suggest pausing RRSP contributions for immediate cash flow, structuring severance to reduce tax in the current year, or negotiating staggered payments. Legal counsel often facilitates these arrangements because employers and employees don’t always consider tax timing when drafting severance agreements.

Both Andersen and Samfiru emphasize that the benefits of professional advice usually outweigh the cost. Legal fees related to collecting wages are often tax-deductible, and severance settlements commonly include compensation for legal costs on top of the severance amount.

Apply for Employment Insurance (EI) right away. While EI and severance cannot cover the same period, EI benefits can begin once severance has been exhausted if you remain unemployed.

To help move past the emotional slump, Andersen draws attention to three resilience traits: maintaining a positive outlook, fostering a sense of control, and leaning on a support network. She recommends setting small, achievable financial goals and clarifying what you want in your next role. Clear goals and a defined “why” make job-search motivation easier to sustain.

Further reading about jobs:

• How to use AI to find a job—without annoying the employers
• Ottawa to expand the Canada Summer Jobs program for youth
• Is Canada in a recession?
• How to negotiate a job offer to get better benefits