Canva is reorganizing its company, and 1,271 people, about 22% of its staff, are affected. Some will lose their jobs, some will get new roles, and some will be asked to move to Sydney. Everyone who leaves gets at least six months of pay, wherever they live, plus health cover, career help, their work MacBook and the chance to apply for a $10,000 grant to start something of their own.
Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins announced the changes in a note to staff on Nov. 3, which Canva published in full on its newsroom. She called it “the hardest moment in our thirteen-year history.”
What departing Canva staff get
According to Canva’s note, everyone leaving as part of the changes gets:
- Pay: at least six months of salary, including whatever the local law already requires, in every country.
- Shares: people who joined in the past year no longer have to wait out the usual one-year period before their first shares vest, meaning before they actually own them.
- Health cover: 12 more months, in countries where Canva already provides it.
- Counseling: 12 months of Canva’s employee assistance program, which also covers family members.
- Job hunting help: one-on-one coaching, interview practice, a year of LinkedIn Premium, help from Canva’s own recruiters, and an opt-in directory of former staff that Canva will share with its investors and partners.
- Their laptop: everyone keeps their Canva MacBook, “as we know not everyone has a personal laptop,” Perkins wrote.
- A $10,000 grant: the new Canva Collective Fund gives grants to departing staff who want to start a business or a community project. Canva says it takes no ownership in what they build. They have until Dec. 14 to register their interest.
Why Canva says it is doing this
Perkins wrote that 2026 has been Canva’s “hardest year yet” and that its growth has slowed for the first time in a decade. Her fix is to “refound” the company around smaller teams with more ownership. Canva is merging its Product, Growth and Platform groups into one product organization, cutting management layers, folding narrow specialist jobs into broader ones, and making Sydney the main base for more product teams. From January, most staff on hybrid schedules are expected in the office two to three days a week.
Perkins pointed to how fast technology is changing what people create and what they expect from apps. She did not say AI is replacing the people who are leaving.
What Canva hasn’t said
- How many people are actually losing their jobs. The 1,271 figure covers everyone affected, including people whose roles change or who are asked to relocate. Some posts online describe it as 1,271 layoffs. Canva’s own note does not.
- Which teams and countries are hit hardest. Canva has staff in 37 countries and says the timing of each conversation depends on local rules.
- Anything about the app itself. The note announces no change to Canva’s plans or prices for people who use it.
How this compares to what most workers get
Much of what Canva is offering is not something the law requires. In the US, for example, no federal law requires severance pay at all. The Department of Labor says severance is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee. In most places, what you get depends on your contract, your local law and how much you ask for.
That is why Canva’s list is useful even if you have never worked there. It is a checklist of what a company can offer.
If you’re facing a layoff, ask about these
- Pay: how many weeks or months, and whether it is on top of what the law already requires.
- Health cover: how long it lasts and who pays. In the US, COBRA lets you keep your work plan, but you usually pay the full cost yourself.
- Shares or stock options: what you keep, and how long you have to buy any options.
- Your work laptop and phone: whether you can keep them, and when your accounts close. Save personal files and contacts before then.
- Job hunting help: coaching, references, and whether the company will introduce you to other employers.
- The deadline to sign: how long you have to review the agreement. Read it before you sign, and get advice if anything is unclear.
If you’re weighing a voluntary buyout rather than a layoff, our guide to what to check before you take a buyout covers the same questions.
Canva will hold a company-wide meeting on Nov. 10 to answer staff questions. We’ll update this story if it shares how many people are leaving.
