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Basically your legal obligation is as they've described; they'll try to re-rent it and when they have you'll be off the hook.

Another option is to try and negotiate something else. If you think it's a good rental market then maybe offer them something that they might find attractive.. maybe offer them 2 months extra rent to terminate the agreement on the day you move out. If they think they can re-rent it in 1 month then it's like a bonus month's rent for them. Or offer them a scaling bonus the faster they rent it out after you've left, something to motivate them to rent it fast.

On the flip side check to make sure they are actually advertising it after you leave.

As for the $250 termination fee, that's an iffy one. If it's not in the agreement I don't think they can charge it, and it might not even be allowable if it is in the agreement. I've been told that the courts have decided that landlords can charge damages, but not penalties.

So the landlord charging you rent until they re-rent it makes sense because that's how much it would cost them if you disappeared.

$250 termination fee doesn't really represent damages, since everything they'd have to do to re-rent it they have to do every time it's re-rented anyway. I guess they could make an argument that advertising and such are costs they wouldn't otherwise incur because it is a fixed term, but I'm skeptical.

Service Alberta has a line you can call to ask about such things.

In the event you don't want to pay it, and they feel they can, they may keep it from your security deposit and then you'd have to fight for it via mediation or court.