What Statutory Holiday Pay Is
A statutory holiday, often called a stat, is a public holiday recognized by law. If you qualify, your employer must either give you the day off with pay or pay you premium rates for working it. Statutory holiday pay is the amount you receive for the holiday itself, calculated from your recent earnings. The rules come from employment standards legislation, which means they differ between federal jurisdiction and each province and territory. Use our paycheck calculator to see how a stat holiday affects your take-home pay for the period.
Which Days Count as Statutory Holidays
There are nine federal statutory holidays: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Each province adds its own. Ontario recognizes Family Day in February; Quebec observes Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24 and Easter Monday; Manitoba has Louis Riel Day; Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia each mark Family Day under slightly different names. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick recognize Heritage Day and New Brunswick Day respectively. For the exact calendar dates where you live, see our full list of 2026 statutory holiday dates by province.
Who Qualifies for Stat Pay
In most provinces, you qualify if you have earned wages in the 30 days before the holiday, though the exact test varies. Ontario requires that you worked your last scheduled shift before and your first scheduled shift after the holiday, with limited exceptions for reasonable cause. British Columbia requires 15 days of employment in the 30 days before the holiday. Federally regulated employees qualify after 30 days of continuous employment. Part-time and casual employees generally qualify too. Independent contractors do not get statutory holiday pay at all.
How Statutory Holiday Pay Is Calculated
The most common formula in Canada is 1/20 of the wages you earned in the four work weeks before the holiday, not counting overtime. Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and several other provinces use this method. So if you earned $4,000 in regular wages over the previous four weeks, your stat pay is $200. British Columbia uses a different formula: total wages in the 30 calendar days before the holiday divided by 15. Quebec also uses 1/20 of the wages from the four complete weeks before the holiday week, excluding overtime. To run the numbers for your own pay, use our holiday pay calculator.
What Happens If You Work the Statutory Holiday
If you work on a statutory holiday, you are generally entitled to premium pay plus your stat pay, or your regular pay plus a substitute day off with pay. In Ontario, an employee who works the holiday gets premium pay at 1.5 times their regular rate for the hours worked, plus their regular stat pay for the day. Alternatively, the employer and employee can agree in writing to substitute another day off.
Statutory Holidays and Your Pay Stub
Stat pay usually appears on your pay stub as a separate line labeled STAT, HOL, or STAT HOLIDAY. It is taxable employment income, so federal tax, provincial tax, CPP or QPP, and EI are deducted from it just like regular wages.
Common Stat Pay Mistakes
The most common errors are employers forgetting the qualifying test and paying stat pay to someone who does not qualify, or the reverse, denying it to someone who does. Another frequent mistake is calculating stat pay on overtime-inclusive earnings in provinces that exclude overtime from the formula.
Provincial Statutory Holidays at a Glance
Beyond the nine federal holidays, each province adds its own days. Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan observe Family Day on the third Monday of February. Manitoba instead marks Louis Riel Day, and Prince Edward Island has Islander Day on the same date. Quebec’s distinctive holidays are Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24 and Easter Monday. Nova Scotia recognizes Heritage Day in February, New Brunswick has New Brunswick Day in August, and Newfoundland and Labrador observes Discovery Day in June. The three territories add days like National Indigenous Peoples Day and Nunavut Day. If you move provinces for work, your stat holiday entitlements change with you.
Stat Pay for Federally Regulated Employees
If you work in banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transport, or another federally regulated industry, the Canada Labour Code sets your stat holiday rules instead of provincial law. You qualify after 30 days of continuous employment. Your stat pay is 1/20 of the wages you earned in the 30 days before the holiday, excluding overtime. Federally regulated employees get the nine federal holidays.
What If the Holiday Falls on a Weekend
When a statutory holiday lands on a Saturday or Sunday, most provinces move the observance to a weekday, usually the following Monday, or require a substitute day off. For example, when Christmas Day falls on a weekend, many employers observe it on the Monday. The legal minimum is that you do not lose the holiday just because of the calendar.
Statutory Holiday Pay vs Vacation Pay and Sick Leave
These are three separate entitlements that do not replace each other. If a statutory holiday falls during your vacation, you are entitled to the stat holiday in addition to your vacation day, not instead of it. Sick leave is separate again: being sick on a stat holiday does not convert it into a sick day.
How Statutory Holidays Affect Overtime Calculations
Overtime and statutory holidays interact in ways that confuse many employees. In most provinces, the hours of a statutory holiday do not count toward the weekly overtime threshold. So if you work 40 hours in a week that includes a stat holiday you took off, those 8 holiday hours generally do not push you into overtime. However, hours actually worked on the holiday are often paid at premium rates separately. If your paycheck shows overtime you did not expect, or missing overtime you did expect, the stat holiday week is the first place to look.
Statutory Holiday Pay When You Leave a Job
If your employment ends, you are still owed statutory holiday pay for any qualifying holiday that occurred during your employment, even if your final paycheck comes later. The employer must include it in your final pay. A common dispute involves employees who quit right before a holiday: if you worked your last scheduled shift before the holiday and met the qualifying test, the holiday pay is yours. Keep your records of scheduled shifts, since the qualifying test often turns on whether you worked the shifts around the holiday.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time employees get statutory holiday pay?
Yes, in most provinces, as long as they meet the same qualifying test as full-time employees. The amount is prorated by their actual earnings.
What if a statutory holiday falls on my day off?
You are still entitled to the holiday. Most provinces require the employer to give you a substitute day off with pay or add the stat pay to your next check.
Are statutory holidays the same in every province?
No. The nine federal holidays apply to federally regulated workplaces, but each province sets its own list.
Is statutory holiday pay taxed?
Yes. Stat pay is employment income and is subject to income tax, CPP or QPP, and EI deductions like any other wages.