Overtime pay rules in Canada are set by provincial, territorial and federal employment standards law, and they differ by province. Your province’s weekly threshold, whether a daily rule applies, how overtime is paid and whether your job is exempt can make a real difference to your pay. This page sets out the rules everywhere in Canada; the rest of your rights at work are in the workplace rights and employee benefits hub.
Overtime thresholds by province
| Jurisdiction | Daily overtime after | Weekly overtime after | Minimum overtime rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal (Canada Labour Code) | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Ontario | No daily rule | 44 hours | 1.5x regular rate |
| British Columbia | 8 hours (1.5x up to 12 hours, 2x after 12) | 40 hours | 1.5x / 2x regular wage |
| Alberta | 8 hours | 44 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Quebec | No daily rule | 40 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Manitoba | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Saskatchewan | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Nova Scotia | No daily rule | 48 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| New Brunswick | No daily rule | 44 hours | 1.5x the minimum wage |
| PEI | No daily rule | 48 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | No daily rule | 40 hours | A set minimum overtime wage rate |
| Northwest Territories / Nunavut | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
| Yukon | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x regular wage |
Two provinces tie the overtime floor to the minimum wage rather than to your own wage. New Brunswick’s minimum overtime wage rate is one and a half times the minimum wage, and Newfoundland and Labrador sets a minimum overtime wage rate that is adjusted each year with the Consumer Price Index, as its minimum wage is. If you earn more than the minimum wage in those provinces, the law only guarantees that floor; your contract may pay more. Current minimum wages are on minimum wage by province.
A Nova Scotia bill introduced in September 2026 provides for the weekly overtime threshold to drop from 48 hours to 44 hours on April 1, 2027. Whether that change is in force when you work the hours is shown on the province’s labour standards overtime page; the table above shows the threshold in the current Labour Standards Code.
Province-by-province details
Ontario: 44-hour weekly threshold
- For most employees, overtime begins after 44 hours in a work week, and hours after 44 are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate.
- No daily overtime rule: overtime is calculated only weekly, or over a longer period under an averaging agreement.
- Most employees can’t be required to work more than 8 hours a day (or their established regular workday, if longer) or 48 hours a week without a written or electronic agreement. An agreement to work more hours doesn’t remove the right to overtime pay.
British Columbia: daily and weekly, with double time
- Daily overtime: time-and-a-half for time worked over 8 hours in a day, up to 12 hours, even if you don’t work more than 40 hours that week; double time for time worked over 12 hours in a day.
- Weekly overtime: time-and-a-half for time worked over 40 hours in a week (Sunday to Saturday), even if no single day goes over 8 hours. Only the first 8 hours worked in a day count toward weekly overtime, so hours already paid as daily overtime aren’t counted twice.
- Weekly rest period: you must have at least 32 hours in a row free from work each week. If you work during that period, you must be paid time-and-a-half for those hours. Hours that are also overtime are paid time-and-a-half once, not overtime plus the rest-period premium.
Alberta: daily or weekly, whichever is greater
- Overtime is all hours worked over 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week, whichever is greater (the 8/44 rule).
- Overtime pay is at least 1.5 times your wage rate.
- Under a written overtime agreement, overtime can be banked as paid time off instead (see banked overtime below).
Quebec: 40-hour weekly threshold
- No daily overtime rule; overtime begins after 40 hours in a week.
- Overtime rate: 1.5x.
- Paid time off can be substituted for overtime pay with the employee’s consent.
Federal (Canada Labour Code)
For federally regulated employees (banks, airlines, telecommunications, interprovincial transport):
- Standard hours are 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week; hours beyond those are overtime.
- Overtime is paid at least 1.5 times the regular hourly wage, or as time off.
- In most cases the maximum is 48 hours of work in a week.
How overtime pay is calculated
Step 1: Find your regular rate. For hourly employees this is your hourly wage. For salaried, commission or piece-rate employees, the regular rate is worked out from your earnings for the week and the hours they cover; the method differs by province. In Ontario, for example, a straight-commission or piecework employee’s regular rate is their weekly earnings divided by 44 hours.
Step 2: Count your overtime hours. Apply your province’s daily and weekly thresholds to the hours you actually worked. Unpaid meal breaks aren’t hours worked.
Step 3: Multiply. Overtime hours × (regular rate × the overtime multiplier) = overtime pay.
An Ontario employee paid $25.00 an hour works 50 hours in a week. Overtime starts after 44 hours, so 6 hours are overtime at $37.50 an hour: overtime pay of $225. Regular pay is $1,100, for total earnings of $1,325 for the week.The overtime calculator works out a week’s regular and overtime pay under your province’s threshold.
Banked overtime (time off in lieu)
Several jurisdictions let an employer give paid time off instead of overtime pay, under rules that differ on the ratio and the deadline:
| Jurisdiction | Allowed? | Time off per overtime hour | Deadline to take it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Yes, by written or electronic agreement | 1.5 hours of paid time off | Within 3 months of the week the overtime was earned, or within 12 months if you agree |
| British Columbia | Yes, at your written request | Overtime wages are credited to a time bank | You can ask for a payout or paid time off; an employer closing the bank gives one month’s written notice and then settles it within 6 months |
| Alberta | Yes, under a written overtime agreement | At least 1 hour of paid time off | Within 6 months of the end of the pay period it was earned in (longer only under a collective agreement) |
| Federal | Yes, at your request with a written agreement | 1.5 hours of paid time off | Within 3 months of the end of the pay period, or up to 12 months by written agreement (or as a collective agreement sets) |
| New Brunswick | No: banking of hours is not permitted | Not applicable | Not applicable |
The ratio matters. In Ontario and federally, time off in lieu must be at 1.5 hours per overtime hour, so one-for-one time off falls short. Alberta is the exception: its overtime agreements can bank 1 hour of time off for each overtime hour, but banked time that isn’t taken in time, or is still owed when the job ends, must be paid out at 1.5 times the wage rate. In Ontario, if your job ends before you take the banked time, you must be paid overtime pay for those hours.
Who is exempt from overtime
Exemptions vary by province and by industry. The most common ones:
- Managers and supervisors. In Ontario, managers and supervisors don’t qualify for overtime if the work they do is managerial or supervisory, even if they do some other tasks occasionally. A job title alone doesn’t decide it: the duties do.
- Some licensed professionals, such as lawyers, physicians, dentists, engineers, architects and accountants, in many provinces.
- Some information technology and high-technology professionals, in provinces that set a specific exemption for them.
- Some salespeople paid by commission, depending on the province and where they work.
- Farm workers, who are exempt from overtime in several provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador, where overtime provisions don’t apply to agricultural employees.
- Specific industries (such as ambulance attendants, fishing, logging and some construction) that have their own daily, weekly or monthly thresholds; Alberta lists several.
Independent contractors aren’t covered by overtime rules at all. Whether you are an employee or a contractor depends on the working relationship, as set out in employee vs contractor status. App-based drivers and couriers have their own rules in Ontario and BC, covered in gig worker rights.
If your employer is not paying overtime
If you think you are owed overtime, what to do when your employer is not paying overtime covers the common ways it goes unpaid, how to work out the amount and how to claim it. Filing with your provincial office is covered in how to file an employment standards complaint.
Related reading
- Vacation Pay Entitlement by Province
- Statutory Holidays in Canada by Province
- My Employer Reduced My Hours: What Are My Rights?
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