Statutory Holiday Pay in Canada
Statutory holiday pay is not a universal 'eight hours for everyone' rule. Eligibility, the pay formula, premium pay for working the holiday, and substitute-day rules vary by province, territory, and federal jurisdiction.
Last updated August 2026
At a glance
- The same concept may be called statutory holiday pay, public holiday pay, or general holiday pay, depending on the jurisdiction.
- Employment standards determine whether the employee qualifies, how holiday pay is calculated, and what happens if the employee works on the holiday.
- Holiday pay and premium pay are different amounts. An employee who works on the holiday may be entitled to both, or to another permitted arrangement.
- CRA determines the CPP, EI, income-tax withholding, and T4 treatment after the holiday payment is part of payroll.
There is no single Canadian holiday-pay formula
Canada does not have one provincial holiday-pay formula that every employer can apply. The applicable rule follows the employee's employment jurisdiction, not simply the employer's head office or a national payroll setting.
Even common-looking situations can produce different results. One jurisdiction may use a percentage of recent wages, another may use an average-day calculation, and another may divide a defined four-week wage base by a fixed divisor. Eligibility rules can also depend on attendance, length of employment, industry, or other facts. For the full jurisdiction reference, see Canadian Employment Standards.
Holiday pay, premium pay, and a substitute holiday are different things
Pay for the holiday entitlement
This is the amount an eligible employee receives for the statutory, public, or general holiday itself. The calculation is based on the applicable employment-standard formula.
Extra pay for working the holiday
Where the rules require premium pay, it is tied to the hours actually worked on the holiday and is separate from the ordinary holiday-pay entitlement.
A different day off with pay
Some jurisdictions allow a qualifying holiday to be moved or replaced by another day off when the statutory conditions and agreement requirements are met.
A payroll system may need to calculate the holiday entitlement first, then add premium pay for the employee's holiday-work hours, while keeping the two amounts separately auditable.
How the formulas differ by jurisdiction
These official examples show why a payroll system cannot safely assume that every statutory holiday equals one normal workday or eight hours of pay.
5% of wages in the previous 28 days
Saskatchewan generally calculates public holiday pay as 5% of wages earned in the 28 days before the holiday. The published calculation includes specified vacation and earlier public holiday pay and excludes overtime. Employees who work on a public holiday generally receive 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for those hours in addition to public holiday pay.
Four-work-week formula divided by 20
Ontario generally adds regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the work week with the public holiday to the applicable vacation pay payable for those four weeks, then divides the total by 20. Premium pay, when required, is at least 1.5 times the employee's regular rate.
An average day's pay
BC calculates statutory holiday pay using total qualifying wages divided by the number of days worked during the 30 calendar days before the holiday. Overtime is excluded. Qualified employees who work on the holiday receive additional premium pay under BC's rules.
General-holiday rules under the Canada Labour Code
Federally regulated employees have general-holiday entitlements under the Canada Labour Code. Employees who are entitled to holiday pay and are required to work generally receive at least 1.5 times their regular rate for time worked plus general holiday pay, subject to the federal rules and continuous-operation alternatives.
The examples above are summaries, not a substitute for the applicable statute or government guidance. Special industry rules, collective agreements, continuous operations, and employee classification can change the result.
Eligibility matters before the formula
A correct formula can still produce the wrong payroll result if the employee was not eligible for the holiday entitlement. Depending on the jurisdiction, payroll may need facts such as the employment start date, scheduled work, attendance before or after the holiday, whether the employee actually worked the holiday, and whether an industry-specific exception applies.
- Part-time employees are not automatically excluded from holiday pay.
- New employees may have different eligibility or calculation treatment by jurisdiction.
- Salaried employees can still have a statutory holiday entitlement; salary does not make the rule disappear.
- Special industries or continuous operations may use different options or exceptions.
For this reason, “the employee had a holiday in the pay period” is not enough information by itself to determine the final amount.
What if the employee works on the holiday?
Working on the holiday creates a second question after the holiday-pay entitlement is resolved. The payroll system may need to calculate additional premium pay, a substitute day, or another permitted arrangement. Those rules are jurisdiction-specific and should not be collapsed into a single “holiday rate” field.
Determine eligibility
Does the employee qualify for the holiday
entitlement?
Calculate holiday pay
Apply the jurisdiction's wage base and formula.
Handle work on the holiday
Add premium pay or the permitted
substitute-day treatment.
Apply CRA payroll deductions
Calculate CPP, EI, income tax, and
reporting.
How CRA treats public holiday pay
CRA separates the employment-standard entitlement from the payroll-tax treatment. Its current guidance says that when part of a pay period includes a public holiday, income-tax withholding, EI premiums, and CPP contributions are calculated in the same manner as regular salary.
CRA also requires vacation and public holiday payments to be reported as employment income and on the applicable T4 insurable- and pensionable-earnings boxes. That reporting rule does not tell the employer how much public holiday pay the employee was legally entitled to receive in the first place.
For a detailed explanation of that boundary, see CRA vs Employment Standards.
What if holiday pay was missed?
As with vacation pay, first separate the employment-standard problem from the payroll-recording problem.
- Entitled but never paid: determine the correct historical entitlement using the applicable jurisdiction and employee facts, then pay the amount through payroll.
- Paid but recorded incorrectly: correct the payroll record and determine whether CPP, EI, tax, remittance, pay-stub, or T4 reporting also needs correction.
The legal amount that should have been paid and the amount that was actually paid are separate facts. Historical payroll should preserve that distinction rather than silently replacing one with the other.
How Beanflow handles the two layers
Beanflow Payroll does not currently support Quebec payroll calculations. Quebec reference content is provided for comparison, but it should not be read as support for running Quebec payroll.
Related payroll guides
Official sources
- CRA — Vacation pay and public holiday payments
- ESDC — Annual vacations and general holidays for federally regulated employees
- Ontario — Public holidays
- British Columbia — Calculate statutory holiday pay
- Saskatchewan — Paying Employees for Public Holidays
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Employment-standard rules can change and special rules may apply to particular occupations or workplaces. Confirm the current government source for the employee's jurisdiction before relying on a calculation.