Statutory Holiday Pay in Canada by Province (2026)

If you run a Canadian business with shift workers across restaurants, retail locations, care homes, or multi-province franchise operations, statutory holiday pay is one of the highest-risk compliance areas in your payroll. Every province sets its own list of paid holidays, eligibility rules, and calculation formulas. The same holiday and the same employee can trigger completely different payroll obligations depending on where the shift is worked. Errors compound quickly: miscalculating stat holiday pay by even a few dollars per shift across a workforce of 50 creates meaningful back-pay exposure when an employment standards officer audits your records, and employees increasingly file complaints about holiday pay specifically because the formulas are complex and rarely well understood. This guide breaks down statutory holiday pay rules for every Canadian province, territory, and the federally regulated sector for 2026. You will find eligibility tests, calculation formulas, premium pay rates for employees who work on the holiday, a complete province-by-province comparison table, and worked payroll examples using the 2026 dates.

What statutory holiday pay is in Canada (2026)

Statutory holiday pay in Canada is the legally required wage an eligible employee receives for a designated public holiday, whether they work that day or not. It is a floor set by provincial or federal employment standards legislation, not a benefit that employers can choose to offer. Most provinces use one of two calculation structures: the 1/20 method, which divides wages earned in a recent four-week reference period by 20 to produce a day's pay, or the 5% method, which pays the employee 5% of wages earned during the four weeks before the holiday. A minority of jurisdictions use average-daily-earnings formulas based on 30-day or three-week lookbacks.

Statutory holidays are sometimes called "stat holidays," "general holidays" (Alberta, Manitoba, federal sector), "public holidays" (Ontario, Saskatchewan), or "paid holidays" (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland). The naming does not change the legal obligation. An employee who qualifies is entitled to a day's pay for the holiday. An employee who works the holiday is typically entitled to premium pay on top of the holiday pay they already earned for the day.

The rules that apply to your business depend on whether your industry is federally regulated (banks, airlines, interprovincial transport, telecommunications, broadcasting) or provincially regulated (everything else, including restaurants, retail, hospitality, healthcare, and most franchise operations). The vast majority of Canadian employers fall under provincial rules, so the province where the employee physically performs the work governs their entitlement.

Statutory holidays by province — Canada (2026)

The number of paid statutory holidays in Canada in 2026 ranges from 6 in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and PEI to 10 in the federally regulated sector, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, and Manitoba recognise between 8 and 9 paid holidays depending on the jurisdiction, and Quebec has 8 statutory holidays with an additional National Holiday on June 24.

The master comparison table below lists the paid holidays recognised in each jurisdiction for 2026.

How statutory holiday pay is calculated in Canada

Statutory holiday pay in Canada is calculated using one of three formula types: a 1/20 formula, a 5% formula, or an average-daily-earnings formula, with the formula set by the province or the Canada Labour Code. The right formula depends on where the employee performs the work, not where the employer is headquartered.

The 1/20 formula (used federally, in Ontario, and in Quebec) takes total wages earned in the four work weeks before the work week containing the holiday and divides by 20. This produces an average day's pay that smooths out variation in hours for part-time and variable-hour workers. The 5% formula (used in Manitoba and Saskatchewan) multiplies total wages earned in the four weeks before the holiday by 5%. For an employee working 5 days per week at consistent hours, 5% of four weeks' pay is mathematically identical to 1/20, so the two methods produce similar results for consistent workers and diverge mainly for variable-hour staff.

The average-daily-earnings formulas (BC, Alberta, New Brunswick, PEI) divide total wages by the number of days actually worked in a defined lookback period, which produces a higher day's pay for employees who work fewer days but longer shifts. This structure tends to protect the pay of servers, healthcare workers, and retail associates on compressed schedules.

Regardless of formula, three rules apply almost everywhere in Canada:

1. Overtime pay is excluded from the earnings used in the calculation
2. Vacation pay is included in Ontario and Quebec but excluded in most other jurisdictions
3. Employees who work the stat holiday receive premium pay (usually 1.5x) on top of the holiday pay they would have earned by not working

Federal statutory holiday pay rules (Canada Labour Code)

Federally regulated employees in Canada are entitled to 10 paid general holidays per year under the Canada Labour Code, calculated as 1/20 of wages earned (excluding overtime) in the four-week period immediately before the week containing the holiday. The 10 federal holidays are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.

Eligibility under the Canada Labour Code is straightforward: any employee of a federally regulated employer is entitled to general holiday pay, with no minimum length of service required. This was changed in 2019, so older guidance referencing a 30-day continuous employment rule is out of date. An employee who is required to work on a general holiday is entitled to their regular wages for the hours worked plus holiday pay at 1.5x for those hours, or, by agreement, a substitute day off with pay within 3 months.

For federally regulated operators (think an interprovincial trucking fleet or a national courier network), the practical implication is that seasonal and part-time workers all qualify for general holiday pay from day one. A part-time dispatch clerk who earned $1,800 in the four weeks before Canada Day 2026 is entitled to $90.00 in general holiday pay ($1,800 divided by 20) whether or not they were scheduled to work July 1.

For authoritative federal guidance, see the Government of Canada's employment standards page on general holidays.

Statutory holiday pay in Alberta

Alberta employees are entitled to 9 general holidays under the Employment Standards Code, with general holiday pay calculated as the average daily wage: total wages divided by the number of days worked in the 4 weeks immediately before the general holiday. Alberta's 9 paid general holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Alberta Family Day (February 16), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day. Alberta does not recognise Boxing Day, Easter Monday, or National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as paid statutory holidays.

To qualify in Alberta, an employee must have worked for the employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday. An employee who works on a general holiday that would normally be a work day is entitled to 1.5x their regular wage for hours worked plus their average daily wage, or 1.0x their regular wage for hours worked plus a substitute day off with average daily wage pay. An employee who works on a general holiday that is not normally a work day is entitled only to 1.5x for hours worked, with no additional holiday pay.

Practical example for an Alberta restaurant: a server who worked 15 days over the 4 weeks before Canada Day earning $3,000 total would have an average daily wage of $200.00 ($3,000 ÷ 15). If she works 8 hours on Canada Day at $18.00 per hour, she receives $216.00 for hours worked at 1.5x ($18.00 × 1.5 × 8) plus her $200.00 average daily wage, totalling $416.00 for the shift.

For official guidance, see Alberta's general holidays and general holiday pay page.

Statutory holiday pay in British Columbia

British Columbia employees are entitled to 10 statutory holidays under the Employment Standards Act, with statutory holiday pay calculated as an average day's pay based on wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the holiday. BC's 10 paid statutory holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Family Day (February 16), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, BC Day (August 3), Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day. Boxing Day is not a statutory holiday in BC.

The BC calculation is: total wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday, divided by the number of days worked during that period. Wages include regular pay, commissions, and statutory holiday pay earned during the period, but exclude overtime. To qualify, an employee must have been employed for at least 30 calendar days before the holiday and must have worked or earned wages on at least 15 of the 30 days immediately before the holiday. An employee who works less than 15 of the 30 days is not entitled to statutory holiday pay in BC, which is one of the strictest eligibility tests in Canada.

An employee who works on a BC statutory holiday receives 1.5x their regular wage for the first 12 hours and 2x for any hours beyond 12, in addition to an average day's pay. For a retail chain running year-end inventory on Boxing Day (not a stat in BC) versus Christmas Day (a stat), the premium pay obligation shifts dramatically.

For authoritative guidance, see the BC Employment Standards Branch on statutory holidays.

Statutory holiday pay in Manitoba

Manitoba employees are entitled to 8 general holidays under the Employment Standards Code, with general holiday pay calculated at 5% of the total wages (excluding overtime) earned in the 4 weeks before the holiday. Manitoba's 8 paid general holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Louis Riel Day (February 16), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Remembrance Day is a separate statutory observance in Manitoba rather than a paid general holiday, and Boxing Day is not recognised.

To qualify for general holiday pay in Manitoba, an employee must not have been absent from a scheduled shift on the day before or the day after the holiday without the employer's consent or a legitimate reason. An employee who works on a general holiday is entitled to 1.5x their regular wage for hours worked plus the general holiday pay calculated under the 5% rule.

For operators in the hospitality sector, Manitoba's 5% formula matters most when staff have irregular schedules. A care home worker who earned $2,400 in the 4 weeks before Canada Day 2026 is entitled to $120.00 in general holiday pay ($2,400 × 5%) even if her regular shift is only 6 hours.

For official information, see Manitoba's general holidays page.

Statutory holiday pay in New Brunswick

New Brunswick employees are entitled to 8 prescribed public holidays under the Employment Standards Act, with holiday pay calculated as the average daily earnings (excluding overtime) for the days worked in the 30 calendar days before the holiday. The 8 public holidays in New Brunswick for 2026 are New Year's Day, Family Day (February 16), Good Friday, Canada Day, New Brunswick Day (August 3), Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), and Christmas Day. Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays in New Brunswick.

Eligibility requires the employee to have worked with the employer for at least 90 calendar days within the 12 months before the holiday, and to have worked their scheduled shifts before and after the holiday. An employee who works on a prescribed public holiday receives 1.5x their regular rate for the hours worked plus one regular day's pay, which in New Brunswick is the average earned daily.

For authoritative information, see the Government of New Brunswick's employment standards page.

Statutory holiday pay in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador employees are entitled to 6 paid holidays under the Labour Standards Act, with holiday pay calculated as an average day's pay based on total wages (excluding overtime) earned in the 3 weeks before the holiday divided by the days worked. The 6 paid holidays in Newfoundland in 2026 are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day (July 1, which coincides with Canada Day), Labour Day, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day. This makes Newfoundland one of the two most limited paid-holiday provinces in Canada alongside Nova Scotia.

To qualify, an employee must have been employed for at least 30 days before the holiday and must have worked their scheduled shift before and after the holiday. An employee who works on a paid holiday receives 2x their regular rate for the hours worked, which is one of the highest premium rates in Canada. This 2x rate replaces the standard 1.5x premium found in most other provinces.

For a St. John's restaurant running a Canada Day brunch service, a server earning $16.00 per hour who works 7 hours on July 1 would receive $224.00 for the shift (2x × $16.00 × 7) under the NL premium rate, which is meaningfully higher than the same shift in Ontario or Alberta.

For official guidance, see Newfoundland and Labrador's Labour Standards information on paid holidays.

Statutory holiday pay in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia employees are entitled to 6 paid holidays under the Labour Standards Code, with holiday pay based on a regular day's wages for the employee. The 6 paid holidays in Nova Scotia for 2026 are New Year's Day, Heritage Day (February 16), Good Friday, Canada Day, Labour Day, and Christmas Day. Remembrance Day is governed by separate legislation (the Remembrance Day Act) rather than the Labour Standards Code. Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not paid holidays for most private-sector employees.

To qualify for paid holiday pay in Nova Scotia, the employee must have been employed for 30 of the 60 days before the holiday, worked their last scheduled shift before the holiday, and worked their first scheduled shift after. The calculation for employees with regular hours is one regular day's pay. For employees with irregular hours, it is the average daily wage based on the 30 days before the holiday. An employee who works on a paid holiday receives 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked plus their regular day's pay or average daily wage.

For authoritative information, see Nova Scotia's Labour Standards Paid Holidays guide.

Statutory holiday pay in Ontario

Ontario employees are entitled to 9 public holidays under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, with public holiday pay calculated as regular wages plus vacation pay in the 4 work weeks before the work week containing the holiday, divided by 20. Ontario's 9 public holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Family Day (February 16), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Remembrance Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are not public holidays under Ontario's ESA.

Ontario is unusual because vacation pay is included in the earnings figure used for the calculation, unlike most other provinces. All Ontario employees qualify for public holiday pay regardless of length of service. However, employees must work their scheduled shifts before and after the holiday to avoid forfeiting the entitlement, unless they have reasonable cause. An employee who works on a public holiday can receive either a substitute day off with public holiday pay plus 1x premium for hours worked, or public holiday pay plus 1.5x premium for hours worked (by agreement).

For a 40-location restaurant group in Ontario, this formula matters because vacation pay accrued during the 4-week reference period inflates the holiday pay owed. A server who earned $2,400 in regular wages plus $96.00 in accrued vacation pay (4%) during the 4 weeks before Canada Day would receive $124.80 in public holiday pay (($2,400 + $96) ÷ 20), not $120.00.

For the authoritative Ontario guide, see the Ministry of Labour public holidays page. For a full look at Canadian stat holiday observances, see our Canada statutory holiday pay resource.

Statutory holiday pay in Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island employees are entitled to 7 paid holidays under the Employment Standards Act, with holiday pay calculated as the employee's regular rate for their regular hours, or, for irregular-hours staff, the average daily earnings from the 30 days before the holiday. PEI's 7 paid holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Islander Day (February 16), Good Friday, Canada Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), and Christmas Day. Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Boxing Day are not paid statutory holidays in PEI.

To qualify in PEI, an employee must have earned wages on at least 15 of the 30 calendar days before the holiday. An employee who works on a paid holiday receives 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked plus holiday pay, or a substitute day off with pay within 30 days.

For official information, see the PEI Employment Standards paid holidays page.

Statutory holiday pay in Quebec

Quebec employees are entitled to 8 statutory holidays under the Act respecting labour standards, with a holiday indemnity calculated as 1/20 of wages earned (excluding overtime) in the 4 complete weeks before the week containing the holiday. Quebec's 8 statutory holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Good Friday or Easter Monday (employer's choice), National Patriots' Day (May 18), St. Jean Baptiste Day / National Holiday (June 24), Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. The National Holiday on June 24 is governed by separate legislation (the National Holiday Act) but operates as an additional paid holiday in practical terms.

Quebec does not require a minimum length of service for holiday indemnity. An employee who works on a statutory holiday receives their regular wage for hours worked plus the indemnity, or their regular wage plus a compensatory day off with pay within 3 weeks. Quebec does not apply a 1.5x premium rate for working on a statutory holiday, which is the most significant structural difference from the rest of Canada. This matters for retailers running holiday sales: a Montreal-based retail chain pays less for a Canada Day shift than the same chain would pay in Toronto or Calgary.

Tipped employees in Quebec have a special rule: the indemnity is based on the wage they would have earned had they not received tips, which typically means the base minimum wage multiplied by scheduled hours, with no tip component included.

For official guidance, see the CNESST page on statutory holidays.

Statutory holiday pay in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan employees are entitled to 10 public holidays under the Saskatchewan Employment Act, with public holiday pay calculated at 5% of the wages (excluding overtime) earned in the 4 weeks before the holiday. Saskatchewan's 10 public holidays in 2026 are New Year's Day, Family Day (February 16), Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Saskatchewan Day (August 3), Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day. This makes Saskatchewan tied with the federal sector, BC, and the three territories for the most generous holiday schedule in Canada.

There is no minimum length of service required in Saskatchewan. All employees qualify for public holiday pay from their first day. An employee who works on a public holiday receives 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked plus public holiday pay, or a substitute day off with pay.

For authoritative information, see the Saskatchewan public holidays labour standards page.

Statutory holiday pay in the territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut)

Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut employees are each entitled to 10 statutory holidays under their respective Employment Standards Acts, with calculation methods that broadly follow the federal 1/20 approach. Each territory's 10 holidays include New Year's Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, National Aboriginal Day (June 21, Yukon and NWT), Canada Day, Discovery Day (Yukon only, August 17), Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day, with minor variations in the civic holiday observed.

In Yukon, statutory holiday pay is calculated as a regular day's pay for employees with consistent hours, or as total wages divided by days worked in the 4 weeks before the holiday for employees with irregular hours. Northwest Territories and Nunavut use an average day's pay based on wages earned in the 4 weeks before the holiday. An employee who works on a statutory holiday in any of the three territories receives 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked plus the equivalent of a regular day's pay.

For authoritative information, see the Yukon Employment Standards page, the NWT Employment Standards page, and the Nunavut Labour Standards Office.

Worked example: calculating statutory holiday pay for Canada Day 2026

The worked example below shows how the same employee with the same earnings produces different holiday pay obligations depending on the province. Consider a part-time barista at a coffee shop chain who earned $1,800 in regular wages over the 4 weeks before Canada Day 2026 (Wednesday, July 1, 2026), worked 15 days during that period, and accrued $72.00 in vacation pay during those 4 weeks (4% of wages).

Ontario (ESA 1/20 method, vacation pay included):$1,800 + $72 = $1,872 ÷ 20 = $93.60 public holiday pay

Federal / Canada Labour Code (1/20 method, vacation pay excluded):$1,800 ÷ 20 = $90.00 general holiday pay

Quebec (ART 1/20 method, vacation pay excluded):$1,800 ÷ 20 = $90.00 holiday indemnity

Saskatchewan / Manitoba (5% method):$1,800 × 5% = $90.00 public / general holiday pay

Alberta (average daily wage based on days worked in 4 weeks):$1,800 ÷ 15 days = $120.00 average daily wage

British Columbia (average day's pay based on 30-day lookback, assume same figures):$1,800 ÷ 15 days worked = $120.00 average day's pay

The spread between the lowest ($90.00 under federal and 1/20 provinces) and the highest ($120.00 under the average-daily-earnings provinces) is 33% for this worker, and this is before you layer in the premium pay obligation if the barista actually works the shift. A multi-province operator running payroll the same way in every province is either overpaying in one region or underpaying (and creating back-pay liability) in another.

Common statutory holiday pay mistakes Canadian employers make in 2026

The most common statutory holiday pay errors for Canadian operators in 2026 are using a flat day's pay instead of the province's required formula, excluding eligible part-time workers, forgetting to layer premium pay on top of holiday pay for employees who work the shift, and applying Ontario's vacation-pay-inclusive formula in other provinces.

Specific high-risk errors to audit for:

• Paying salaried employees nothing extra for stat holidays when the statutory formula would produce a separate entitlement on top of their salary in some provinces
• Assuming employees in their first 30 days do not qualify, which is incorrect in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and the federal sector
• Treating Remembrance Day as paid in provinces where it is not (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Manitoba)
• Missing National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) for federally regulated, BC, PEI, NB, Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut workers
• Not banking substitute days off where the employee chose that option under Ontario's ESA or Alberta's Code
• Calculating holiday pay based on base hourly rate instead of total earnings, which under-pays tipped servers and commissioned retail staff

Managing statutory holiday pay with Workforce.com

Statutory holiday pay is a pure operational compliance problem: 13 different formulas, constantly shifting calendars, and premium pay rules that depend on whether the employee actually worked the shift. Workforce.com's payroll software applies the correct provincial formula automatically for every employee based on their location of work, calculates the 1/20, 5%, or average-daily-earnings value from the right reference period, and layers in the 1.5x or 2x premium pay when the shift is scheduled on a recognised holiday.

For multi-province operators (restaurant groups, retail chains, franchise networks, care home operators), the scheduling software flags upcoming statutory holidays per province on the schedule so a Vancouver manager sees BC Day and a Regina manager sees Saskatchewan Day without needing to remember which holidays apply where. The time and attendance module tracks whether eligibility tests (like BC's 15-of-30-days rule) are met for every employee before the holiday is paid, which eliminates the most common source of employment standards complaints. See our related guides on minimum wage by province Canada, overtime laws Canada, and rest and break laws Canada to build the full picture of shift-worker compliance, or book a demo to see Workforce.com run payroll across provinces.

Frequently asked questions about statutory holiday pay in Canada

How is statutory holiday pay calculated in Canada?Statutory holiday pay in Canada is calculated using one of three formula structures depending on the province: 1/20 of wages earned in the four weeks before the holiday (federal, Ontario, Quebec), 5% of wages earned in the four weeks before the holiday (Manitoba, Saskatchewan), or average daily earnings based on a 30-day or 4-week lookback (BC, Alberta, New Brunswick, PEI). Overtime pay is excluded from the earnings figure in every jurisdiction. Vacation pay is included only in Ontario.

Who qualifies for statutory holiday pay in Canada?Most Canadian employees qualify for statutory holiday pay as long as they have met the eligibility test in their province, which typically requires either a minimum number of days worked in a recent reference period or simply working the scheduled shifts before and after the holiday. Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and the federally regulated sector have no minimum length of service. BC requires the employee to have worked 15 of the 30 days before the holiday. Alberta requires 30 workdays in the previous 12 months.

Do part-time employees get statutory holiday pay in Canada?Yes, part-time employees are entitled to statutory holiday pay in every Canadian province and territory, provided they meet the provincial eligibility test. The formulas are specifically designed to produce a fair day's pay for part-time workers based on their recent earnings rather than a full-time day's salary. A part-time worker with no scheduled shifts in the reference period may earn $0 in statutory holiday pay even though they technically qualify.

What are the statutory holidays in Canada for 2026?In 2026, the statutory holidays that apply in most Canadian provinces are New Year's Day (January 1), Family Day or provincial equivalent (February 16 in most provinces), Good Friday (April 3), Victoria Day (May 18), Canada Day (July 1), Labour Day (September 7), Thanksgiving (October 12), and Christmas Day (December 25). Whether Remembrance Day (November 11), National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), Boxing Day (December 26), and various provincial civic holidays are paid statutory holidays depends on the province where the employee works.

Do you get paid extra for working on a statutory holiday in Canada?Yes, in most Canadian provinces an employee who works on a statutory holiday is entitled to both their statutory holiday pay and a premium of 1.5x their regular rate for the hours worked. Newfoundland and Labrador pays 2x for hours worked on a paid holiday, the highest premium rate in Canada. Quebec is the major exception: employees who work a Quebec statutory holiday receive their regular wage for hours worked plus a holiday indemnity, with no 1.5x premium applied.

Is Remembrance Day a statutory holiday in Canada in 2026?Remembrance Day (November 11, 2026) is a paid statutory holiday under employment standards legislation in most Canadian jurisdictions, but not in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, or Manitoba for most private-sector employees. Federal sector employers must provide paid Remembrance Day under the Canada Labour Code. Employers who close on Remembrance Day as a matter of policy in non-statutory provinces are not required to pay holiday pay unless it is in the employment contract or a collective agreement.

Is September 30 a statutory holiday in Canada in 2026?National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2026, is a paid statutory holiday in the federally regulated sector, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Manitoba. It is not a statutory holiday for private-sector employees in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland and Labrador in 2026, though some employers in those provinces recognise it voluntarily.

How do you calculate stat holiday pay for salaried employees in Canada?Salaried employees in Canada are typically paid their regular salary for a week that includes a statutory holiday, which means no additional payment is owed if the salary already covers the holiday. Where the employee works on the statutory holiday, most provinces require the employer to pay a 1.5x premium for hours worked on top of the salary, or to provide a substitute paid day off. Alberta, BC, and Ontario specifically require employers to run the statutory calculation for salaried workers with variable hours to confirm the salary equals or exceeds the statutory entitlement.

What happens if a statutory holiday falls on a weekend in Canada?When a statutory holiday falls on a weekend in Canada, most provinces require the employer to substitute the holiday with the next regular working day (typically the following Monday) or give the employee an alternate day off with pay. Boxing Day 2026 falls on Saturday, December 26, which means Ontario and federally regulated employers must substitute another day. The specific substitution rule is set by each province's employment standards legislation and some provinces allow the employer to choose the substitute day.

Can employers average statutory holiday pay across shifts in Canada?No, employers cannot average or prorate statutory holiday pay across other shifts to reduce the per-holiday obligation in any Canadian province. The statutory formula produces a specific dollar amount for each holiday, and that amount must be paid either as a separate line item on the pay stub or as part of a transparent wage structure that clearly identifies holiday pay. Lumping holiday pay into regular wages without identifying it is a common employment standards violation.

Do you get statutory holiday pay if you're on vacation in Canada?Yes, an employee on vacation during a statutory holiday is still entitled to the statutory holiday pay in every Canadian jurisdiction. The holiday does not count as a vacation day, which means the employer must extend the vacation by one day, pay an extra day of holiday pay, or substitute a different paid day off. The specific rule varies by province but the underlying entitlement is consistent.

What's the difference between general holidays, public holidays, and statutory holidays in Canada?The terms "general holiday," "public holiday," and "statutory holiday" refer to the same legal concept in Canada, with the naming differing by province. Alberta, Manitoba, and the federal sector use "general holiday." Ontario and Saskatchewan use "public holiday." BC and most other provinces use "statutory holiday." The rights, calculation formulas, and premium pay rules all flow from the specific provincial legislation, not from the label.

‍

‍

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Overtime rules, minimum wages, and employment standards legislation change regularly. Always consult the employment standards authority in your province or a qualified employment lawyer to confirm the rules that apply to your specific situation.

‍