Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
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Labour

www.labour.gc.ca

Statutory Holidays

All federally regulated employees, managers and professionals are entitled to nine paid, statutory holidays every year. These are also known as general holidays.

They are:

  • New Year's Day
  • Good Friday
  • Victoria Day
  • Canada Day
  • Labour Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Remembrance Day
  • Christmas Day
  • Boxing Day

When New Year's Day, Canada Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday you would not normally work, you 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 your employer must add a holiday with pay to your annual vacation or give you a paid day off at another mutually convenient time.

See the holiday pay section to find out if you qualify for paid holidays, how you're affected if you have to work on one of these days, and how much you're paid if you do.

If you are subject to a collective agreement with your employer, they may substitute any other holiday for a statutory holiday if the substitution is agreed to in writing by your employer and your union. If you do not have a collective agreement, the substitution must be approved by at least 70 percent of affected employees and your employer must post a notice of substitution for at least 30 days before the substitution takes effect.

If you work in continuous operations where business is ongoing without regard for weekends and holidays, your employer can choose how to provide you with statutory holiday entitlements from the following options. You can be:

  1. given the statutory holiday off with pay
  2. required to work on the statutory holiday and receive a regular day's pay plus time-and-a-half for the actual hours worked on the holiday
  3. required to work on the holiday as a regular work day while getting a day off with pay at another, more mutually convenient time, usually by adding it to your vacation entitlement
  4. paid for the first day on which you do not work immediately following the statutory holiday, if you are subject to a collective agreement providing this option

For full details, refer to Pamphlet #4 – General Holidays and Pamphlet #4A – General Holidays – Continuous Operations.

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Date Modified:
2012-02-15