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Stat Holiday Pay Calculator: Ontario, BC, Alberta and Federal

Updated

Your stat holiday pay depends on the law that covers your job, so the calculator first asks where you work, then applies that province’s formula, or the Canada Labour Code’s for a federally regulated job. For most workers, working the holiday pays time and a half for the hours on top of holiday pay, or, where the law offers it, regular pay for the hours and a paid day off later.

Stat holiday pay calculator

Choose where you work, then enter your wages and days for the period each box names, using the gross pay on your pay stubs and leaving out the items listed. If you work the holiday, add your hours and hourly rate to see each way of being paid.

Elsewhere in Canada? See the other provinces and territories.

"Paid on every cheque" counts at least 4% of the wages you entered, Ontario's minimum; if your stub shows the vacation pay, or your rate is higher, enter the amount. More on vacation pay.

The result assumes you qualify for holiday pay; the link under it opens the rules on who qualifies where you work.

How is stat holiday pay calculated?

Ontario and federally regulated jobs pay a fraction of what you earned in the weeks before the holiday, while B.C. and Alberta divide your wages by the days you worked.

Ontario

Ontario public holiday pay is the regular wages earned in the 4 work weeks before the work week with the holiday plus the vacation pay payable for those weeks, divided by 20. Ontario’s public holiday pay rules

In Ontario, the vacation pay counted depends on how you get it: pay for a vacation taken in those weeks, at least 4% of your wages if it comes on every cheque (or your higher rate), or a lump sum paid on a date inside the period. The weeks follow your employer’s work week rather than the calendar. Vacation pay explains how it’s paid.

Example. You earn $22 an hour for 30 hours a week, and vacation pay comes on every cheque at the minimum.

  • Regular wages in the 4 work weeks: $2,640.00
  • Vacation pay at 4%: $105.60
  • Public holiday pay, the two together divided by 20: $137.28
  • Working 8 hours instead: regular wages for them come to $176.00. With premium pay you get 1.5 times that, $264.00, plus the holiday pay: $401.28. With a substitute day you get the regular wages now and a later day off paid the holiday pay.

British Columbia

B.C. statutory holiday pay is an average day's pay: total wages (overtime excluded) divided by the number of days worked in the 30 calendar days before the holiday. B.C.’s statutory holiday pay rules

In B.C., the days counted include paid vacation days, other paid statutory holidays and the paid sick days employment standards require.

Example. You earn $22.50 an hour for 8-hour days and worked 16 days in the 30 days before the holiday.

  • Total wages: $2,880.00
  • Statutory holiday pay, wages divided by days: $180.00
  • Working your 8-hour day on the holiday: 1.5 times your rate for those hours is $270.00, on top of the holiday pay: $450.00

Past 12 hours, B.C. pays double time, 2 times your rate, for the extra hours, as in the province’s own 14-hour example (working a B.C. statutory holiday).

Alberta

Alberta general holiday pay is the average daily wage: wages (overtime excluded) divided by the days worked in the 4 weeks before the holiday (the employer picks one of two 4-week periods); a salaried employee on a regular workday can get the day off with full salary. Alberta’s general holiday pay rules

In Alberta, the pay also depends on whether the holiday falls on a regular day of work for you, which is why the calculator asks (Alberta’s test).

Example. You earn $25 an hour for 7.5-hour days and worked 15 days in the 4 weeks before a holiday that falls on a regular day of work for you.

  • Wages: $2,812.50
  • General holiday pay, wages divided by days: $187.50
  • Working a 7.5-hour day, option 1: 1.5 times your pay for the hours, $281.25, plus the holiday pay: $468.75. Option 2: regular pay for the hours, $187.50, and a later day off paid the holiday pay.
  • If the holiday weren’t a regular day of work for you, working it would pay the option 1 hours figure alone, with no holiday pay on top.

Federally regulated jobs

Federal general holiday pay is at least 1/20 of the wages (overtime excluded) earned in the 4 weeks before the week of the holiday (1/60 of the last 12 weeks for commission earners). Federal general holiday pay rules

Example. You earn $27.50 an hour for 40 hours a week.

  • Wages in the 4 weeks before the week of the holiday: $4,400.00
  • General holiday pay, 1/20 of that: $220.00
  • Working 8 hours: 1.5 times your regular rate for them, $330.00, plus the holiday pay: $550.00

Is stat holiday pay time and a half?

Not for a day off: you get the holiday pay worked out above and nothing extra. For hours you work on the holiday, most workers get time and a half on top of holiday pay, unless they take or are given a paid day off later instead where the law allows it. There are two exceptions: in Alberta, working a holiday that isn’t a regular day of work for you is paid at time and a half for the hours (Alberta’s rules), and a federally regulated manager or professional gets the regular rate plus a substitute holiday with pay.

  • Ontario: If an Ontario employee agrees to work a public holiday they are paid either regular wages for the hours worked plus a substitute day with public holiday pay, or public holiday pay plus premium pay of 1.5 times their regular rate for each hour; a substitute day must fall within 3 months (12 by agreement). A holiday on a non-working day or during vacation means a substitute day with holiday pay or, if the employee agrees, holiday pay. Working a public holiday in Ontario
  • B.C.: On a B.C. statutory holiday, hours worked are paid at 1.5 times, and 2 times after 12 hours, on top of an average day's pay; a regular or scheduled day off that falls on the holiday is also paid an average day's pay, and an employer and employee may agree in writing to substitute another day. Working a statutory holiday in B.C.
  • Alberta: If an Alberta employee works a general holiday that is a regular day of work, the employer pays either 1.5 times the pay for the hours worked plus the average daily wage, or regular pay for the hours plus a future day off at the average daily wage; on a day that is not a regular day of work, hours worked are paid at 1.5 times and there is no holiday pay if the employee does not work. A holiday during vacation means a day off with pay after it. Working a general holiday in Alberta
  • Federal: A federally regulated employee required to work a general holiday is paid at least 1.5 times the regular rate for the time worked on top of general holiday pay (a manager or professional gets the regular rate plus a substitute holiday); a holiday on a Saturday or Sunday that is a non-working day is moved to the working day just before or after for New Year's Day, Canada Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Working a federal general holiday

In Ontario, holiday hours paid at the premium rate don’t count toward the week’s overtime, and in Alberta the same goes for holiday hours paid at time and a half; overtime pay rules covers the rest.

Do part-time and new workers get stat holiday pay?

In Ontario, qualified employees can work full time, part time, permanently or on a term contract. Alberta puts it plainly: “The same calculations of holiday pay apply to full-time, part-time, and casual employees”. In federally regulated jobs, part-time employees are paid for the same 10 general holidays as full-time employees, with the pay adjusted to their hours. In B.C., the test counts the days you worked or had wages in the 30 days before the holiday (who qualifies in B.C.).

How long you must have worked there differs: Ontario sets no minimum, while B.C. and Alberta do.

  • Ontario: Most Ontario employees qualify for public holiday pay, however recently they were hired, unless they miss, without reasonable cause, all of their last scheduled day before the holiday or all of their first scheduled day after it (the last and first rule), or the shift they agreed or were required to work on the holiday. Who qualifies in Ontario
  • B.C.: In B.C. you qualify for statutory holiday pay if you have been employed for 30 calendar days and worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days before the holiday; working the day before and after is not the test. Who qualifies in B.C.
  • Alberta: In Alberta you get general holiday pay if you worked for the same employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday and the holiday is a regular day of work for you (or you work it); you do not if you miss a scheduled holiday shift, or the day before or after, without your employer's consent. Who qualifies in Alberta
  • Federal: Every employee of a federally regulated employer is entitled to a holiday with pay on each general holiday that falls within the period of employment, subject to the Code's exceptions; a collective agreement can waive the rules only if it gives equal or better rights. Who qualifies in federally regulated jobs

Is stat holiday pay insurable and pensionable?

Yes. Employment and Social Development Canada’s guide to the record of employment says “In all cases, statutory holiday pay is included in insurable earnings” for EI. The CRA tells employers to take income tax, EI premiums and CPP contributions off public holiday pay the same way as off regular salary.

How do you check it on your pay stub, and what if it wasn’t paid?

Look for a holiday pay line on your pay stub; our guide to reading a pay stub lists the common codes. Compare it with the calculator’s day-off figure.

If you weren’t paid, what to do when your employer hasn’t paid you walks through the steps; each province page says where to complain and how long you have: Ontario, B.C. and Alberta. For federally regulated jobs, see filing an employment standards complaint.

What about the other provinces and territories?

For the rest of Canada, stat holidays across Canada links each government’s own holiday page, and Saskatchewan has a public holiday pay calculator of its own.

What doesn’t the calculator cover?

  • Salaried pay in Alberta. If you are salaried and the holiday falls on a regular workday, you may receive the day off and your full salary for the day. (Alberta’s rules)
  • Federal pay not by the hour. If you are not paid by time or your hours differ from day to day, your regular rate is your average daily earnings, excluding overtime, over the 20 days you worked before the holiday. (federal rules)
  • Alberta incentive pay. If you are paid by incentive pay, such as commissions or piecework, Alberta checks that the hourly rate used is at least the minimum wage that applies to you (Alberta’s rules, minimum wage).
  • Special industries in Ontario. Hotels, motels and tourist resorts, restaurants and taverns, hospitals and nursing homes, and continuous operations can require you to work the holiday (Ontario’s rules).
  • Jobs left out. Some jobs aren’t covered by the holiday pay rules in Ontario, B.C. or Alberta (Ontario, B.C., Alberta).
  • Federal special cases. Continuous operations have separate holiday entitlements, the federal government’s calculator isn’t meant for multi-employer workplaces such as longshoring, and a collective agreement may waive some requirements.

For a step-by-step check, Ontario has an Employment Standards Self-Service Tool and the federal government has its own holiday pay calculator.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them on October 13, 2026. How we check facts.