Statutory holidays and vacation pay are set province by province, not nationally, so the number of paid stat holidays and the vacation rate you owe depend entirely on where the work is done. Vacation pay starts at a minimum of 4 percent of wages in most provinces (Quebec and Saskatchewan start higher), rising to 6 percent or more after a set period of service. The count of paid statutory holidays ranges from 6 to 11 across the country, plus 11 for federally regulated work. These are floors set by employment standards; a contract or collective agreement can be more generous but never less.
Vacation pay: the percentage you owe
Vacation pay is calculated as a percentage of the employee's gross wages and paid out either as paid time off or as a lump sum. The minimum rate rises with length of service. Across the jurisdictions:
- Most provinces: 4 percent (about two weeks) for the first years of service, rising to 6 percent (about three weeks) after a set number of years (5 years in Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Ontario, the territories; 8 years in New Brunswick and PEI).
- Quebec: 6 percent under 3 years of service, rising to 8 percent at 3 or more years, the most generous floor in the country.
- Saskatchewan: 6 percent from day one (a minimum three-week entitlement from the start of employment), rising to 8 percent after 10 years.
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 4 percent, rising to 6 percent only after 15 years.
For a labourer earning $50,000 a year in Ontario with under five years of service, vacation pay is 4 percent of $50,000, which is $2,000 across the year. After five years it becomes 6 percent, or $3,000. Vacation pay accrues on the wages actually earned, so it climbs with overtime and bonuses unless your standards exclude them; confirm what is included in your province.
Statutory holidays: the count by jurisdiction
The number of paid statutory (public) holidays a worker is entitled to in 2026, by jurisdiction:
- Federal (Canada Labour Code): 11.
- British Columbia: 10. Saskatchewan: 10. Northwest Territories: 10. Yukon: 10.
- Alberta: 9. Nunavut: 9. Ontario: 9.
- Manitoba: 8. New Brunswick: 8. Prince Edward Island: 8. Quebec: 8.
- Nova Scotia: 6. Newfoundland and Labrador: 6.
Counts shift as provinces add or recognise days (for example, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a stat holiday federally and in several provinces but not all), so confirm the current list with your provincial standards office before you build the year's payroll calendar.
Stat holiday pay and the "worked on the holiday" rule
There are two separate amounts on a statutory holiday. First, eligible employees who take the day off still get paid for it (holiday pay), usually calculated as an average of recent wages or a set percentage of earnings in the preceding weeks. Second, an employee who actually works on the stat holiday is generally owed premium pay on top, commonly time-and-a-half for the hours worked plus the holiday pay, or a substitute day off. The exact formula and the eligibility rules (often a requirement to have worked the scheduled shifts before and after the holiday) are provincial. On a crew working a stat, this is easy to underpay.
Quebec is different in name and rate
Quebec sits under its own Act respecting labour standards for non-construction matters, with the higher 6 and 8 percent vacation rates noted above. Quebec construction work is a separate world again: wages, vacation pay and holidays for workers on a CCQ-covered site are set by the sector collective agreement, not by your contract or even the standard provincial floor (see Quebec: the CCQ and Act R-20).
Worked example: the all-in cost of a stat
A crew of four labourers each earning $30 an hour does not work on a stat holiday. Each is owed roughly a day of holiday pay, about $240 at 8 hours, so the holiday costs you about $960 in wages for no production. If you instead run the crew on the stat, you typically owe time-and-a-half for the hours worked (about $45 an hour) on top of the day's holiday pay. Budget for stat holidays in your labour rate; they are a predictable, recurring cost, not a surprise.
Common mistakes
- Paying 4 percent everywhere. Quebec and Saskatchewan start above 4 percent, and several provinces step up at different service lengths.
- Forgetting vacation pay accrues on overtime. In most provinces it is a percentage of total wages earned, not just base.
- Underpaying a stat worked. Holiday pay and worked premium pay are two separate amounts; an employee who works the stat is usually owed both.
- Using last year's holiday list. The count and the specific days change; rebuild the calendar each year from your standards office.
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