Statutory and public holidays in BC and Ontario

Holidays matter when you work in a store, restaurant, or warehouse. Many of these places stay open, so you may be asked to work. The law decides whether you get paid for the holiday and how much.

BC calls them statutory holidays. Ontario calls them public holidays. The rules are quite different. Our guides to your rights in BC and your rights in Ontario give a short summary. This guide goes into more detail.

We checked these facts on October 12, 2026. Follow the links for the latest details.

The holidays

BC has 11 statutory holidays (BC statutory holidays). Ontario has 9 public holidays (Ontario public holidays). The dates below are for 2027.

Still to come in 2026: Remembrance Day on Wednesday, November 11 (BC), Christmas Day on Friday, December 25 (both provinces), and Boxing Day on Saturday, December 26 (Ontario).

A few notes:

• Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are not holidays under the law in either province.
• In Ontario, the first Monday in August (often called the Civic Holiday) is not a public holiday under the law. Your employer may still give it to you.
• Some employers, such as banks, airlines, and postal and courier services, are federally regulated. Federal rules apply there instead, with 10 general holidays (federally regulated industries, federal holidays).

BC: who gets statutory holiday pay

You qualify if both of these are true (who qualifies):

• You have been employed by your employer for at least 30 calendar days before the holiday.
• You worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days before the holiday. Paid vacation days and other statutory holidays count.

You do not need to work the day before and the day after the holiday. Some people believe this rule exists, but it doesn't in BC.

A few kinds of workers are left out, such as managers and farm workers.

BC: how holiday pay is worked out

Holiday pay in BC is an average day's pay (calculate holiday pay):

Wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the holiday ÷ number of days you worked or earned wages in that time

Include regular wages, statutory holiday pay, paid vacation, and paid sick days. Leave out overtime.

• If you get the day off, you are paid an average day's pay. This is true even if the holiday falls on your usual day off (Employment Standards Act, section 45).
• If you work, you get time-and-a-half for your hours (double time after 12 hours), plus an average day's pay.
• If you don't qualify and you work, you get your regular pay for the hours you work.

Example. In the 30 days before the holiday, you worked 15 days, 6 hours a day, at BC's minimum wage of $18.25 an hour. You earned $1,642.50. Your average day's pay is $1,642.50 ÷ 15 = $109.50.

• Day off: you get $109.50.
• You work 6 hours: 6 × $27.375 (time-and-a-half) = $164.25, plus $109.50, for a total of $273.75.

Moving the holiday. You and your employer can agree in writing to swap the holiday for another day. That day is then treated as the holiday.

Ontario: who gets public holiday pay

Most employees qualify, even if they were hired recently. It doesn't matter if you are full-time, part-time, permanent, or on a term contract (public holidays).

You lose the holiday pay if you miss all or part of your last scheduled shift before the holiday, or your first scheduled shift after it, without a reasonable cause. A reasonable cause is something beyond your control. If you agreed or were required to work on the holiday, you must also work that whole shift. Even if you don't qualify, most employees still get 1.5 times their regular rate for any hours they work on the holiday.

Ontario: how holiday pay is worked out

(Regular wages earned in the 4 work weeks before the week of the holiday + vacation pay for those weeks) ÷ 20

Regular wages don't include overtime, vacation pay, public holiday pay, or premium pay.

Example. For the 4 weeks before the holiday's week, you worked 3 shifts a week, 6 hours each, at Ontario's minimum wage of $17.95 an hour. You earned $1,292.40. Your public holiday pay is $1,292.40 ÷ 20 = $64.62. Depending on when your vacation pay is paid, it may be added too. This example leaves it out.

If you work fewer than 5 days a week, your holiday pay will usually be less than one shift's pay. That is because the formula divides 4 weeks of wages by 20.

Ontario: holidays off, holidays worked

• The holiday falls on a day you would normally work: you get the day off with public holiday pay.
• It falls on your day off, or during your vacation: you get a substitute day off with public holiday pay. If you agree in writing or electronically, you can take public holiday pay instead.
• You agree to work the holiday: you get one of two options, depending on what you agree to:
  1. Your regular pay for the hours worked, plus a substitute day off later with public holiday pay
  2. Public holiday pay plus 1.5 times your regular rate for the hours you work, with no substitute day

In the example above, option 2 for a 6-hour shift would be $161.55 (6 × $26.925) plus $64.62, for a total of $226.17.

A substitute day must be within 3 months of the holiday, or within 12 months if you agree in writing or electronically. Your employer must give you a written statement about the substitute day before the holiday.

Can your employer make you work? Hotels, motels, tourist resorts, restaurants, taverns, hospitals, nursing homes, and businesses that run without stopping can require you to work if the holiday falls on a day you would normally work and you are not on vacation. Your employer then picks one of the two options.

Retail workers. Most retail workers can refuse to work on a public holiday. If you agreed to work it, you can still say no by giving at least 48 hours' notice (retail workers). Restaurants, cafés, bars, and hotels don't count as retail for this rule.

If your holiday pay is wrong

1. Check your pay stub. Compare your hours and holiday pay with the rules above. Keep copies of your schedule.
2. Ask your employer. Many mistakes are honest ones.
3. Get help.
   • BC: Call Employment Standards at 1-833-236-3700. You can get help in the language of your choice (contact). If you have left the job, you must complain within 6 months of your last day (complaint process).
   • Ontario: Call the Employment Standards Information Centre at 1-800-531-5551 or 416-326-7160. Generally, you must file a claim within two years (filing a claim).

Next steps

• Learn to read your pay stub
• Want extra hours? Read about seasonal and holiday jobs
• Still in school? See part-time jobs for students
• Find entry-level jobs in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area