BC Stat Holidays 2026: Dates, Who Gets Paid and Holiday Pay

British Columbia has 11 statutory holidays in 2026, the days the province’s Employment Standards Act names; “stat holiday” is the everyday word for them. Being on the list doesn’t settle whether you’re paid for the day: in B.C., employees are paid for statutory holidays if they qualify. The test has two parts: 30 calendar days with your employer, and work or paid time off on 15 of the 30 days before the holiday. The dates come first, then the pay rules.

What are BC’s stat holidays in 2026?

The list is set by B.C.’s Employment Standards Act. B.C. names federally regulated workplaces among the work its employment standards don’t cover; the national page explains the holidays for federally regulated workers.

What are BC's stat holidays in 2027?

Next year's dates, for planning ahead.

Which days are not stat holidays in BC?

In B.C., Easter Sunday and Easter Monday don’t count as statutory holidays, and neither does Boxing Day, the province says. Easter Monday and Boxing Day appear in the tables above, with their dates, marked as not statutory.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a statutory holiday in B.C.: the Act names it in its list. Other provinces treat it differently; the national page has the answer for each province.

Who qualifies for stat holiday pay in BC?

• You have been employed for 30 calendar days.
• You worked or earned wages (paid vacation days and another statutory holiday count) on 15 of the 30 days before the holiday.
• Instead of the 15-day test, you also qualify if you worked under an averaging agreement at any time in those 30 days.
• Some workers are excluded by the Employment Standards Regulation, including nursing students and volunteer fire fighters, farm workers, managers and fishers.
• If you do not qualify, you are paid regular pay for working on a statutory holiday.

Some people believe that working your shifts the day before and the day after the holiday is what qualifies you, and B.C.’s guide says that “isn’t the case in B.C.”.

How much is stat holiday pay in BC?

• Statutory holiday pay is total wages divided by the number of days worked, an average day's pay.
• The calculation uses the days worked in the 30 calendar days before the holiday, includes all wages and leaves out overtime.
• Total wages include regular wages, salary, commission, statutory holiday pay, paid vacation and paid sick days required by employment standards.
• Days worked include any day wages were earned, including paid vacation days, other paid statutory holidays and required paid sick days.

For how other provinces calculate holiday pay, see the national page’s holiday pay section.

What if you work on the stat holiday in BC?

• Hours worked on the holiday are paid at 1.5 times your pay, and at 2 times for hours over 12.
• The pay for hours worked on the holiday is on top of an average day's pay.
• If the holiday falls on a regular or scheduled day off, you are paid an average day's pay.
• An employer and employee may agree in writing to substitute another day for a statutory holiday.

When a group of workers is involved, B.C.’s Act lets the employer move the holiday to another day if a majority of those employees agree. The substitute day then has to be treated exactly like the statutory holiday, with the same pay rules. Daily and weekly overtime are covered on the overtime pay rules page.

What if the holiday falls on your day off or during your vacation?

A holiday on your regular or scheduled day off is covered in the list above.

If a statutory holiday falls during your annual vacation, B.C.’s Act says the vacation is “exclusive of statutory holidays that an employee is entitled to”, so the holiday isn’t counted as one of your vacation days. How much vacation you earn and how vacation pay works are on the vacation pay page.

Who isn’t covered in BC?

B.C. lists some employees who don’t receive statutory holiday pay and points to the Employment Standards Regulation for the details:

• nursing students and volunteer firefighters
• farm workers, managers and fishers
• high-technology professionals
• silviculture workers and car and truck salespeople who are paid a percentage on each cheque in place of holiday pay
• commission salespeople, when everything they earn in the pay period is more than they would get at their base rate (or minimum wage) plus overtime and holiday pay

B.C.’s qualify page gives the Regulation section for each. If you work for a federally regulated employer, the national page covers your holidays.

What if you weren’t paid for a stat holiday?

Our guide to reading a pay stub explains its lines. If you qualified and weren’t paid, B.C. points you to a complaint with the Employment Standards Branch, which costs nothing to file. If you’ve left that employer, the time limit is 6 months after your last day of work or temporary layoff. If you still work there, the Branch reviews issues going back up to a year before it receives your complaint. B.C. lists unionized workplaces among those its employment standards don’t cover.

Our guides on filing an employment standards complaint and what to do when your employer hasn’t paid you go through the steps.

Related pages

• Statutory holidays in Canada: the other provinces and territories, and federal workers
• Vacation pay entitlement
• Overtime pay rules
• Minimum wage by province
• Bank holiday hours: when bank branches close
• TSX stock market holidays: when the market closes
• All workplace rights guides: pay, leave, the end of a job and complaints