HR glossary · Ending employment and discipline

Exit interview

An exit interview is a short, voluntary conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what could be better.

Also called: exit survey, leaving interview, offboarding interview

What exit interview means

An exit interview is a conversation, or a short written survey, with an employee who is leaving. You ask why they are going, what worked, what did not, and what would have made them stay. It is optional for both sides; it is a practice, not a legal requirement.

For a small business, it is one of the cheapest sources of honest feedback you will get. People who are on their way out are often more candid about pay, scheduling, management and workload than people who are staying. Patterns across several exit interviews can show you a problem worth fixing before more people leave.

How it works

Keep it voluntary and short. Offer it near the end of the notice period, not on the last afternoon when the person is packing up. A 20 to 30 minute conversation, or a one-page form, is enough. Have someone other than the person's direct manager run it if you can.

Use a consistent set of open questions so you can compare answers over time. For example: What made you start looking? What did you like most about the job? What would you change? Did you have the tools and training you needed? How was the pay compared to what you are moving to? Would you come back?

Separate the interview from the paperwork. Final pay, vacation pay and the Record of Employment are owed whether or not the employee takes part, and none of them should depend on the interview. Never use it to pressure someone to sign a release or to change their reason for leaving.

Handle what you hear with care. Exit interview notes are personal information, so keep them secure, share them only with people who need them, and do not keep them longer than you need. If someone raises harassment, discrimination or a safety issue, treat it as a complaint and follow your policy, even though they are leaving.

Is it the same in every province?

Exit interviews are a voluntary workplace practice across Canada. Privacy laws can apply to the notes you keep, and the rules differ by province, so check yours. Your harassment and safety obligations continue if a leaving employee reports a problem.

Example: Spotting a pattern at a Lethbridge clinic

Joanne runs a 13-person physiotherapy clinic in Lethbridge. Two front-desk staff leave within 4 months. Both agree to a short exit interview with the office manager, using the same 8 questions.

Both mention last-minute shift changes as the main reason they started looking. Joanne changes the scheduling practice so shifts are posted 2 weeks ahead. She files the notes in a restricted folder and keeps them only as long as her retention policy says.

Hollis handles the exit checklist

When someone leaves, Hollis gives you the exit checklist: final pay timing, vacation pay owed and the Record of Employment deadline, so the paperwork is handled separately from the interview.

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Free tools and guides for this

Questions about exit interview

Are exit interviews required in Canada?

They are a voluntary practice, and the employee can decline. Final pay and the ROE are owed regardless.

What questions should I ask in an exit interview?

Why they started looking, what they liked, what they would change, whether they had the tools and training they needed, and whether they would come back.

What if someone reports harassment in an exit interview?

Treat it as a complaint under your harassment policy and follow up, even though the person is leaving.

Official sources

Service Canada: How to complete the Record of Employment form

General information for Canadian employers, not legal advice. Rules differ by province and territory and change over time, so check with your provincial employment standards office (or the federal Labour Program if you are federally regulated) before you rely on it. See employment standards by province.

Checked against official sources on 4 November 2026.