Canadian Statutory Holidays by Province for 2026 (Complete Guide)

If you have employees across five provinces, you may owe up to 11 different statutory holiday calendars. There is no single province's list that satisfies the others -- and even payroll software regularly gets it wrong on Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland.

This guide covers every statutory holiday for 2026, broken down by province, with the employer obligations you need to know.

Federal General Holidays for 2026

These holidays are established by the Canada Labour Code (Part III) and apply to all federally regulated employees. Most provinces also observe these holidays, though the rules and names sometimes differ. The Canada Labour Code now lists 10 general holidays.

Province-by-Province Breakdown

Every province and territory has its own list of statutory holidays. Some closely mirror the federal list, while others add unique holidays or skip ones you might expect. Below is what each province observes in 2026.

Alberta

Alberta recognizes nine statutory holidays:

• New Year's Day — January 1
• Family Day — February 16 (third Monday of February)
• Good Friday — April 3
• Victoria Day — May 18
• Canada Day — July 1
• Labour Day — September 7
• Thanksgiving Day — October 12
• Remembrance Day — November 11
• Christmas Day — December 25

Alberta does not currently legislate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday for provincially regulated employees.

British Columbia

British Columbia recognizes ten statutory holidays:

• New Year's Day — January 1
• Family Day — February 16 (third Monday of February)
• Good Friday — April 3
• Victoria Day — May 18
• Canada Day — July 1
• British Columbia Day — August 3 (first Monday of August)
• Labour Day — September 7
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — September 30
• Thanksgiving Day — October 12
• Remembrance Day — November 11
• Christmas Day — December 25

BC was among the first provinces to adopt the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a provincial statutory holiday.

Manitoba

Manitoba recognizes nine general holidays:

• New Year's Day — January 1
• Louis Riel Day — February 16 (third Monday of February)
• Good Friday — April 3
• Victoria Day — May 18
• Canada Day — July 1
• Labour Day — September 7
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — September 30
• Thanksgiving Day — October 12
• Christmas Day — December 25

Manitoba calls its February holiday "Louis Riel Day" rather than Family Day. Manitoba added the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a general holiday in recent years; many older payroll calendars still don't reflect this -- double-check yours. Remembrance Day is not a general holiday under Manitoba's Employment Standards Code (it is observed under the separate Remembrance Day Act with different rules), though many employers grant it as a paid day off.

Ontario

Ontario's Employment Standards Act recognizes nine public holidays:

• New Year's Day — January 1
• Family Day — February 16 (third Monday of February)
• Good Friday — April 3
• Victoria Day — May 18
• Canada Day — July 1
• Labour Day — September 7
• Thanksgiving Day — October 12
• Christmas Day — December 25
• Boxing Day — December 26

Ontario does not legislate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or Remembrance Day as public holidays for provincially regulated employees.

Quebec

Quebec's holiday landscape sits across two statutes. The Act respecting labour standards (LSA) governs eight jours fériés, and the National Holiday Act separately governs Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24.

8 jours fériés under the Act respecting labour standards:

• New Year's Day — January 1
• Good Friday or Easter Monday — April 3 or April 6 (employer's choice)
• National Patriots' Day — May 18 (Monday before May 25)
• Canada Day — July 1
• Labour Day — September 7
• Thanksgiving Day — October 12
• Christmas Day — December 25

(One additional date selected by the employer rounds out the eight, depending on sector.)

Plus Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24) under the National Holiday Act, which has its own pay and observance rules and is not part of the LSA list.

Quebec does not observe Family Day, Victoria Day by that name (it is National Patriots' Day), or Remembrance Day as statutory holidays. Quebec is the only province that observes Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, and it replaces Victoria Day with National Patriots' Day.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan recognizes ten statutory holidays:

• New Year's Day — January 1
• Family Day — February 16 (third Monday of February)
• Good Friday — April 3
• Victoria Day — May 18
• Canada Day — July 1
• Saskatchewan Day — August 3 (first Monday of August)
• Labour Day — September 7
• Thanksgiving Day — October 12
• Remembrance Day — November 11
• Christmas Day — December 25

Atlantic Provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador

The Atlantic provinces share a similar holiday structure but have some notable differences.

New Brunswick recognizes eight statutory holidays, including New Brunswick Day (August 3) and Remembrance Day. New Brunswick also observes Family Day on the third Monday of February.

Nova Scotia recognizes six paid holidays under its Labour Standards Code — fewer than most provinces. Heritage Day (third Monday of February) is created by the separate Heritage Day Act -- it is a civic holiday, and the employer pay obligations differ from the statutory holidays under the Labour Standards Code. Don't assume Heritage Day comes with the same premium-pay rules as Canada Day.

Prince Edward Island recognizes seven statutory holidays, including Islander Day on the third Monday of February (PEI's version of Family Day) and Remembrance Day.

Newfoundland and Labrador recognizes six statutory holidays under its Labour Standards Act. Newfoundland does not observe Family Day. July 1 is observed as both Memorial Day (NL's commemoration of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel) and Canada Day -- the same calendar date carries two distinct legal bases, and employers in NL should treat it as a single paid statutory holiday but be aware of the dual significance for any commemorations or messaging.

Key Differences to Watch

Family Day: Same Concept, Different Dates and Names

Family Day is observed on the third Monday of February in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI (as Islander Day), and Saskatchewan. Manitoba observes Louis Riel Day on the same date. Nova Scotia observes Heritage Day on the same date.

Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador do not observe a February holiday.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 30 is a federal general holiday, but provincial adoption varies. British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon have adopted it as a statutory or general holiday. Other provinces -- including Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan -- have not made it a statutory holiday for provincially regulated employees, though individual employers may choose to observe it.

This is a rapidly evolving area. Check your province's current legislation, as more provinces continue to introduce legislation to adopt it.

Civic Holiday in August

The first Monday of August is called different names — British Columbia Day, Saskatchewan Day, New Brunswick Day, Civic Holiday — and has different legal standing by province. In Ontario, it is widely observed but not legislated. If you have employees across multiple provinces, do not assume August is a statutory holiday everywhere.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day (November 11) is a federal statutory holiday but is not legislated as a statutory holiday in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, or Nova Scotia. Employers in those provinces are not legally required to provide it as a paid day off, though many do. In provinces where it is a statutory holiday, the standard holiday pay rules apply.

Employer Obligations: Statutory Holiday Pay

Across all provinces, the core obligation is the same: eligible employees are entitled to a paid day off on a statutory holiday. However, the details of calculating holiday pay differ by province.

General Rules

Eligible employees receive their regular wages for the statutory holiday, even if they do not work. Most provinces require the employee to have worked their last scheduled shift before and their first scheduled shift after the holiday to qualify, though exact qualifying rules vary.

Holiday pay calculation typically follows one of two models:

• A flat day's pay at the employee's regular rate
• An average of daily earnings over the preceding weeks (common in BC, Alberta, and other provinces)

Working on a statutory holiday entitles the employee to premium pay — typically time-and-a-half in addition to their regular holiday pay, or a substitute day off. The specific rules vary by province.

Probationary Employees

Most provinces entitle employees to statutory holiday pay from their first day, regardless of probationary status. A few provinces have short qualifying periods (typically 30 days of employment). Never assume that new employees are ineligible — check your province's specific rules.

Managing Employees Across Multiple Provinces

If your team spans multiple provinces, holiday management becomes genuinely complicated. An employee in Ontario and an employee in British Columbia will have different statutory holidays, different pay calculations, and different qualifying rules — even if they do the same job for the same company.

This is one of the areas where having a dedicated HR platform makes a meaningful difference. Manually tracking which holidays apply to which employees across five provinces is a recipe for errors. WalnutsHR lets you configure province-specific holiday calendars so the right holidays apply to the right people automatically.

For more on managing time off for distributed teams, see our guide on managing PTO for remote teams.

Common Mistakes Employers Make

Applying headquarters' holidays to all employees. If your company is based in Ontario but you have employees in BC, those BC employees are entitled to BC Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — even though Ontario does not legislate those holidays.

Assuming Civic Holiday is a statutory holiday. In Ontario, it is not. Many employers grant it by custom, which is fine, but do not confuse custom with obligation.

Forgetting to update calendars year over year. Holiday dates that fall on a Monday (like Family Day or Labour Day) shift every year. Fixed-date holidays (like Canada Day or Remembrance Day) fall on different days of the week each year, which may trigger substitute holiday rules.

Ignoring variable pay in holiday pay calculations. For employees with commissions, bonuses, or variable hours, calculating statutory holiday pay based only on base salary may result in underpayment.

If you are evaluating HR tools for Canadian compliance, see our guide on the best HR software for Canada for what to look for.

Plan Ahead

The easiest way to handle statutory holidays is to map out the full year in January. Publish the calendar to your entire team with province-specific notes. Configure your time-off system to reflect the correct holidays for each province. And review the calendar whenever you hire in a new province.

Canadian statutory holidays are manageable, but only if you treat them as a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction compliance question — not a one-size-fits-all calendar.

Need to manage statutory holidays across provinces without a spreadsheet? Check our pricing or get started free with WalnutsHR and configure province-specific holiday calendars in minutes.