How do public holidays and school holidays work?

Canada’s public holidays, usually called statutory or “stat” holidays, are mostly set by each province, so the list in Toronto isn’t the same as in Vancouver, Montreal or Halifax. School years and March Break are set by each school board. Here’s how it fits together for 2026–27.

Whose rules apply to you?

Unlike UK bank holidays, Canadian holidays depend on which province you work in and who employs you. Most employees are covered by their province’s employment standards law. If you work for a federally regulated employer, such as a bank, airline, railway, telecoms company, Canada Post or an interprovincial trucking firm, the Canada Labour Code applies instead, with 10 paid general holidays, including the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Remembrance Day. Your contract or collective agreement can give you more days, never fewer.

The holidays and their dates

“Optional” means employers can choose to give the day, and many do, but the law doesn’t require it. When a holiday falls on a weekend, the rules on a substitute day differ by province. Check your province’s list each year

Pay when you work, or don’t

• Ontario: you get the day off with public holiday pay: your regular wages and vacation pay for the 4 work weeks before, divided by 20. If you agree in writing to work, you get holiday pay plus premium pay of 1.5 times your rate, or your normal pay plus a substitute day off. To qualify, you must work your last scheduled shift before and first after the holiday, unless you have reasonable cause. How long you’ve worked there doesn’t matter
• Alberta: you need at least 30 workdays with the employer in the 12 months before. If you work a holiday that’s a normal workday, you get 1.5 times pay plus your average daily wage, or your normal pay plus a day off in lieu
• British Columbia: if you qualify, you get an average day’s pay whether you work or take the day off. Employers and employees can agree in writing to swap the holiday for another day
• Nova Scotia: you must be entitled to pay for at least 15 of the 30 days before and work your last and first scheduled shifts around the holiday. A qualifying employee given the day off gets a regular day’s pay
• Federally regulated: holiday pay, plus 1.5 times your rate for any hours you work on the holiday

See What are my rights at work? for leave and pay more generally.

Days with a particular meaning

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on 30 September is a paid holiday for federally regulated workers and in BC, and schools close that day in Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax. Remembrance Day on 11 November is a paid holiday in BC and Alberta. In Ontario and Quebec it isn’t a statutory holiday, though some employers give the day. In Nova Scotia, a separate law stops many businesses opening that day. In Quebec, 24 June is the Fête nationale, the province’s national holiday.

School years and March Break

Every board also has days when schools close to students: PA days in Ontario, Pro-D days in BC and professional development days in Nova Scotia. Calgary’s public and Catholic boards now have a fall break, from 11 to 15 November in 2026. Catholic and French-language boards often have slightly different dates, and Quebec’s semaine de relâche is set by each board. Check your own board’s calendar