Public holidays in Canada

Public holidays in Canada (French: Jours fériés au Canada), known as statutory holidays, stat holidays, or simply stats (French: jours fériés), consist of a variety of cultural, nationalistic, and religious holidays that are legislated in Canada at the federal or provincial and territorial levels. While many of these holidays are honoured and acknowledged nationwide, provincial and territorial legislation varies in regard to which are officially recognized.
There are five nationwide statutory holidays and six additional holidays for federal employees. Each of the 13 provinces and territories observes a number of holidays in addition to the nationwide days, but each varies in regard to which are legislated as either statutory, optional, or not at all.
Many public and private employers, as well as school systems, provide additional days off around the end of December, often including at least a full or half-day on December 24 (Christmas Eve) or December 31 (New Year's Eve) or in some cases, the entire week between Christmas and New Year. While not officially legislated in any capacity, internationally notable cultural holidays such as Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, Halloween, Mother's Day, and Father's Day are traditionally observed by Canadians as part of Canadian culture.
A statutory holiday (also known as "stats" or "general" or "public" holiday) in Canada is legislated either through the federal government or a provincial or territorial government. Most workers, public and private, are entitled to take the day off with regular pay. However, some employers may require employees to work on such a holiday, but the employee must either receive a day off in lieu of the holiday or must be paid at a premium rate – usually 1+1⁄2 (known as "time and a half") or twice (known as "double time") the regular pay for their time worked that day, in addition to the holiday pay. In most provinces, when a statutory holiday falls on a normal day off (generally a weekend), the following workday is considered a statutory holiday. Statistics Canada shows an average of 11 paid statutory holidays per year in regard to all firms and corporations operating within the province.
In addition to the nationwide holidays listed above, the following holidays are mandated by federal legislation for federally regulated employees. All banks and post offices commemorate these holidays, and they are statutory in some provinces and territories.
Governments in Canada have declared one-off holidays on certain occasions, such as the death of a Canadian monarch. A one-off holiday was declared after the death of George VI on February 15, 1952, and after the death of Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022.
September 19 was named a national day of mourning (French: Jour de deuil national) to commemorate Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state. The day was a holiday for federal government employees. The provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island also enacted provincial equivalents for the federal holiday. The provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Quebec did not enact any holiday.
Provinces and territories generally adopt the same holidays as the federal government with some variations.
Five nationwide statutory holidays, four provincial holidays as well as three "optional holidays".
Provincial statutory
Optional
Five nationwide and six provincial statutory holidays.
Provincial statutory
Five nationwide and three provincial statutory holidays, as well as two optional holidays. Remembrance Day and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays.
Provincial statutory
Optional
Five nationwide and five provincial statutory holidays. Although prescribed as public holidays, Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not paid public holidays.
Provincial statutory
Optional
Five nationwide and one provincial statutory holiday. Thanksgiving is not a statutory holiday. Canada Day is not a statutory holiday as July 1 is Memorial Day.
Provincial statutory
Optional
The following is a list of designated paid holidays for government employees.
These have not been observed as statutory holidays since 1992. They are, however, observed by the provincial government. Unlike most other provinces, there is no province-wide holiday on the first Monday in August. It may be seen as redundant due to the Royal St. John's Regatta, which is observed as a civic holiday in St. John's on the first Wednesday in August (or, in case of poor weather, the next suitable day thereafter). Harbour Grace and Labrador City have a similar holiday for their regatta in late July. All other municipalities are entitled to designate one day a year as a civic holiday; however, many do not take advantage of this.
Five nationwide holidays and five territorial statutory holidays.
Territorial statutory
Five nationwide holidays plus two provincial holidays. Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays but most businesses and retail are closed Boxing Day. Most statutory holidays can be substituted for a mutually agreeable alternative paid day off in lieu or employers can require employees to work at a premium rate of pay. Several types of employment, including workplaces covered by a collective agreement, are exempt from provincial rules governing statutory holidays.
Provincial statutory
Optional
Five nationwide and four territorial statutory holidays. Boxing Day is not a statutory holiday.
Territorial statutory
Five nationwide and four provincial statutory holidays. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially recognized in Toronto in 2018 and has also been in Ottawa, though not as a paid holiday.
Provincial statutory
Optional
Five nationwide and three provincial statutory holidays.
Provincial statutory
Optional
In Quebec, there are five nationwide and three provincial statutory holidays. Remembrance Day and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays, and there is no civic holiday in August. Many details of employment law are different in Quebec. The official statutory holidays are:
Optional
Five nationwide and five provincial statutory holidays.
Provincial statutory
Five nationwide and four territorial statutory holidays. In addition, Easter Monday, Boxing Day, and Heritage Day are statutory for public service workers. Many employers give their employees days off that may not be statutory holidays in the particular province, particularly Boxing Day.
Territorial statutory
Optional
The following days are not Yukon statutory holidays:
Some municipalities also have local statutory holidays. For instance, the morning of the Stampede Parade is often given as a half-day holiday in the city of Calgary. In Ontario, the August Civic Holiday is not defined provincially, but by each municipality.
The other leading candidate for a new holiday is a weekend in February to celebrate the anniversary of the Canadian flag, or more likely a general "Heritage Day". February 15 is already designated as Flag Day, but this is simply a day of commemoration, not a statutory holiday.
In April 2014, a private member's bill to make Remembrance Day a legal holiday and give it the same status as Canada Day was introduced to the House of Commons. Bill C-597 passed second reading in the House of Commons by a margin of 258 to 2; however, it did not become law.
In 2001, members of the 14th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories passed the National Aboriginal Day Act, making it the first jurisdiction in Canada to recognize this day as a formal statutory holiday.
For federally regulated workers, if a holiday occurs on a day that is normally not worked, then "another day off with pay will be provided".
When New Year's Day, Canada Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday which a federally regulated worker would not normally work, they are entitled to a holiday with pay on the working day immediately before or after the holiday. If one of the other holidays falls on a weekend, then the employer must add a holiday with pay to their employees’ annual vacation or give them a paid day off at another mutually convenient time.