Statutory holidays are general holidays the government recognizes as public holidays, and qualified employees get paid during these days even without working.
There are several stat holidays that Ontario observes every year. These come with statutory holiday laws and stat holiday pay rules that employers and employees must adhere to.
Read on to learn more about these holidays, their schedule and the rules surrounding public holidays in Ontario.
Key Takeaways
- Statutory holidays are general holidays that qualified employees get paid for even without working.
- The list of stat holidays in Ontario are New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
- Employees who work on stat holidays earn 1.5x their regular rate on top of their holiday pay.
Statutory Holidays in Ontario for 2023 and 2024
Below is a list of stat holidays in Ontario and the dates when the public observes them in 2023 and 2024.
| Stat Holiday | 2023 | 2024 |
| New Year’s Day | January 1 (Sunday) | January 1 (Monday) |
| Family Day | February 20 (Monday) | February 19 (Monday) |
| Good Friday | April 7 | March 29 |
| Victoria Day | May 22 (Monday) | May 20 (Monday) |
| Canada Day | July 1 (Saturday) | July 1 (Monday) |
| Labour Day | September 4 (Monday) | September 2 (Monday) |
| Thanksgiving Day | October 9 (Monday) | October 14 (Monday) |
| Christmas Day | December 25 (Monday) | December 25 (Wednesday) |
| Boxing Day | December 26 (Tuesday) | December 26 (Thursday) |
Stat Holiday Pay Rules in Ontario
Most employees are entitled to stat holidays in Canada. They earn general holiday pay if the stat holiday is a regular day of work or if they have worked on a general holiday that is not a regular work day.
Qualified employees can be full-time, part-time, permanent or on a term contract basis, regardless of when the company hired them or the number of days they worked before the public holiday.
The following are other stat holiday pay rules in Ontario:
- Employees in Canada get statutory holidays off and receive pay based on their previous weeks’ wages.
- Any employee who works on a statutory holiday will earn 1.5x their regular rate on top of their holiday pay.
- The public holiday pay is generally calculated as 1/20 of an employee’s regular pay from the work weeks before the holiday.
- Vacation pay in Ontario is typically included in the calculation of the holiday pay. Overtime is not.
- If you fail to qualify for the public holiday entitlement, you can still receive premium pay for each hour you work on the stat holiday.
- To be eligible for general holiday pay, you must meet the following:
- Have rendered work for a minimum of 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday
- Worked your scheduled shift before and after the stat holiday
- Worked on a public holiday if required to do so
Calculating Stat Holiday Pay
The formula for calculating stat holiday pay in Ontario is as follows:
| Stat holiday pay = Employee’s regular wages + Vacation pay payable to the employee ÷ 20 |
Employees’ regular wages are those earned by the employee in the four work weeks before the work week with the public holiday.
Vacation pay payable to the employee refers to the four work weeks before the work week with the public holiday.
The amount you get would be the holiday pay you would receive for the stat holiday.
Labour Standards for Stat Holidays in Ontario
Below are some of the labour standards for statutory holidays in Ontario:
a) Before the stat holiday, your employer is under obligation to inform you of the following in writing:
- The holiday that you will be working
- The date when you get a day off if you are working on the holiday
- The date when your employer gives you information about it in writing
b) To receive your holiday pay, you must meet the “last and first” rule. It states that you must work before and after the public holiday unless you cannot due to illness or injury.
c) If you work on a public holiday and have another day off, you must get the other day off within three months of the holiday, or agree in writing that you will take the day off within 12 months of the holiday.
d) If you have to work on a stat holiday, your employer will decide if:
- You earn holiday pay plus premium pay (which is 1.5 times your regular pay), or
- You receive your regular pay and get another day off with holiday pay.
e) If you do not work on the stat holiday, you are entitled to receive general holiday pay.
f) If you do not work on the stat holiday, you are entitled to receive general holiday pay.
g) If the general holiday falls on your scheduled day off, a day off with pay may be added to your annual vacation, or you can take it at another time convenient for you.
h) If you do not meet the “last and first” rule but have an agreement with your employer, you will receive premium pay only for rendering work on a holiday.
What Happens If a Stat Holiday Falls on a Weekend?
When a public holiday falls on a non-working day (such as on a weekend), you can get another day as your day off with holiday pay, or you can get holiday pay for the public holiday but not get another day off.
FAQs
While the Canadian federal government recognizes Easter Monday as one of the stat holidays in Canada, Ontario does not. Employers, however, can choose to recognize it as a public holiday.
Civic Holiday, celebrated every first Monday in August, is not a public holiday in Ontario, but some employers opt to commemorate the day. While many provincially-regulated businesses are open on this August holiday, they are not obliged to give holiday pay.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an annual event Canadians celebrate every 30th day of September. The holiday honours the children who never came home and the survivors of the residential schools. Federal employees get the day off on this holiday, while employers in some regions may opt to give employees the day off.
There are nine paid stat holidays in Ontario in 2023. These are New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
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