Statutory Holidays in Canada: The Ultimate Calendar by Province and Territory

An employee who works on December 25 is not entitled to the same compensation in Quebec, Ontario and Nunavut. And on September 30, no day off is granted in several provincially regulated workplaces.

Statutory holidays in Canada fall under thirteen provincial and territorial regimes, in addition to the federal one. The number of holidays ranges from six to more than twelve depending on the jurisdiction, eligibility rules differ, and the holiday pay formula is not the same everywhere.

This guide starts from the federal list, which serves as a common reference, then shows for each province and territory what is removed from it and what is added.

Statutory holidays in Canada common to all jurisdictions

The federal list applies in full to federally regulated businesses, such as banks, telecommunications and interprovincial transportation. It also covers most of the holidays recognized by the provinces, with the nuances shown in the last column.

The Easter holidays follow the lunar cycle rather than a fixed date. Easter Sunday falls between March 22 and April 25, Good Friday two days before and Easter Monday the day after. In 2028, Good Friday will fall on April 14.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend in 2027. The federal regime then moves the holiday to the working day before or after, which several provincial laws do not provide for.

Statutory holidays by province and territory

Alberta

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, the Civic Holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Boxing Day, which are optional. Added to the list:

The province has nine mandatory holidays. The optional status of September 30 often surprises employers operating in several provinces.

British Columbia

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday and Boxing Day. Added to the list:

Family Day falls on the second Monday of February here, not the third as elsewhere. British Columbia Day is the Civic Holiday under another name.

Manitoba

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, the Civic Holiday and Boxing Day. Added to the list:

Remembrance Day falls under a separate act, with specific provisions for employees who work that day.

New Brunswick

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Victoria Day, Thanksgiving and Boxing Day are optional. Added to the list:

Newfoundland and Labrador

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday and the Civic Holiday. Four additional days are reserved for the provincial public service:

These four days do not apply to all employers in the province.

Northwest Territories

The federal list applies in full. Added to the list:

Nova Scotia

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, Victoria Day, the Civic Holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day and Boxing Day. Added to the list:

With six mandatory holidays, the province has the lowest total in the country. Three additional days require retail businesses to close: Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Boxing Day.

Nunavut

The federal list applies in full, with Boxing Day being optional. Added to the list:

Nunavut Day became a paid holiday through an amendment to the act passed in 2019.

Ontario

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, the Civic Holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Remembrance Day. Added to the list:

The Employment Standards Act recognizes nine, no more and no less. Many employers still grant the August Civic Holiday, but as an internal policy.

Prince Edward Island

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, Victoria Day, the Civic Holiday, Thanksgiving and Boxing Day. Added to the list:

Quebec

The federal holidays apply, except the Civic Holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day and Boxing Day. There is a single Easter holiday, which the employer chooses between Good Friday and Easter Monday. Added to the list:

The province has eight holidays. The Fête nationale falls under a separate act and applies to almost all workers.

Saskatchewan

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Boxing Day. Added to the list:

Yukon

The federal holidays apply, except Easter Monday, the Civic Holiday and Boxing Day. Added to the list:

Discovery Day marks the discovery of gold at Bonanza Creek in 1896.

Who is entitled to a paid statutory holiday

Eligibility requirements are the first real difference in statutory holidays across Canadian jurisdictions.

Quebec imposes no length-of-service requirement. Every full-time or part-time employee is entitled, regardless of employment status, even if they were hired just a few days earlier.

Nunavut and Alberta, on the other hand, require 30 days of work for the same employer in the previous 12 months.

One rule comes up almost everywhere. An employee loses their entitlement to holiday pay if they are absent without a valid reason or without permission on the working day before or after the holiday. Ontario formalizes this condition as the last and first scheduled shift rule.

These eligibility conditions are set up once per jurisdiction in a leave management tool, which applies the right rule to each employee's file.

How statutory holiday pay is calculated

Quebec's formula is the most prescriptive in the country. The CNESST sets holiday pay at one-twentieth of the wages earned during the four complete pay weeks before the week of the holiday.

Overtime is excluded from the calculation, but declared and allocated tips are included. For an employee paid on commission, the formula becomes one-sixtieth of the wages earned in the twelve complete weeks before.

A concrete example: an employee earned $4,000 during the four complete weeks before Labour Day, excluding overtime premiums. Her holiday pay comes to $200, whether or not she works that day.

Ontario applies a similar formula, but adds regular wages and vacation pay for the previous four weeks before dividing by 20. Elsewhere, several jurisdictions calculate statutory holidays in Canada on a regular day's wages, which complicates the calculation for variable schedules.

When an employee works on a statutory holiday

This is the most common situation in retail, food service and healthcare, and the one where the rules differ the most.

In Quebec, the employee receives their regular wages for the hours worked, plus holiday pay. The employer may instead grant a paid compensatory day off, to be taken within the three weeks before or after the holiday. The choice between the two belongs to the employer.

The Government of Nunavut applies a different logic. The employee receives their regular wages plus 1.5 times their hourly rate for the hours worked, or gets another paid day off.

Ontario offers a similar choice between premium pay and a substitute holiday, but the agreement must be in writing or electronic.

One point holds in every jurisdiction. An employer cannot move the official date of a holiday for its own convenience. It can offer a compensatory day off where the law allows, but the holiday itself stays fixed by law.

Finally, these rules interact with the overtime calculation. In Quebec, hours on a statutory holiday count as time worked in the weekly total, which can push a week into overtime. Our article on statutory holidays in retail covers the cases specific to that sector.

Planning statutory holidays in Canada without payroll errors

Sharing the statutory holiday calendar with your team is still the simplest and most cost-effective practice. Some staff are new to the country, have just moved provinces or are in their first job, and nobody naturally remembers that Family Day falls a week earlier in British Columbia.

For an employer operating in more than one province, the challenge lies elsewhere. Each employee must be tied to the jurisdiction where they work, not the one where the head office is, or the holiday pay rules will be applied to the wrong file.

Our guide to employee scheduling explains the method, and a team communication tool keeps the calendar from getting lost in an email chain.

Leave management software lets you set holidays by division, apply each province's rules and let pay adjust automatically. Book a demo to see how it works.

FAQ

How many statutory holidays are there in Canada?

The number of statutory holidays in Canada depends on the jurisdiction rather than a national rule. Nova Scotia has six, Quebec eight, Alberta and Ontario nine, and several territories recognize more than a dozen. Federally regulated employers follow their own list, regardless of the province. An employer operating in more than one province therefore needs a separate calendar for each jurisdiction.

How is statutory holiday pay calculated?

The formula varies by province. Quebec sets holiday pay at one-twentieth of the wages earned during the four complete pay weeks before the week of the holiday, or one-sixtieth over twelve weeks for an employee paid on commission. Overtime is excluded from the calculation, while declared tips are included. Several provinces use a regular day's wages instead.

Does an employee have to be paid if they work on a statutory holiday?

Yes, and they receive more than their usual wages. In Quebec, they earn their regular pay for the hours worked plus holiday pay, or a compensatory day off within the three weeks around the holiday. Nunavut instead applies a premium of 1.5 times the hourly rate, or grants another paid day off, at the employer's choice.

What are the dates of Good Friday and Easter Monday?

These two holidays follow the date of Easter, which varies each year between March 22 and April 25. Good Friday falls two days before Easter Sunday and Easter Monday the day after. In 2027, Good Friday falls on March 26 and Easter Monday on March 29. In 2028, they will fall on April 14 and 17.