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Ontario's statutory holidays in 2020

Learn if your employees are entitled to holiday pay as well as how to calculate it in time for Ontario's civic holidays.

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Ontario's official public holidays and long weekends

There are nine official statutory holidays in Ontario.

  • New Year's Day (January 1, 2020)
  • Family Day (February 17, 2020)
  • Good Friday (April 10, 2020)
  • Victoria Day (May 18, 2020)
  • Canada Day (July 1, 2020)
  • Labour Day (September 7, 2020)
  • Thanksgiving Day (October 12, 2020)
  • Christmas Day (December 25, 2020)
  • Boxing Day (December 26, 2020)

Other days, such as Easter Monday or Remembrance Day, are not considered statutory holidays and do not require holiday pay. This list also differs by province and territory.

Determine your employees' holiday pay entitlement

Not sure what the holiday pay rules are? Confused about how to schedule for the Easter holidays? Employment law for holidays can be complicated, but CFIB has simplified it for you.

To qualify for holiday pay, employees must have worked their last regularly scheduled day/shift before the holiday and their first regularly scheduled day/shift after the holiday. This applies to both full-time and part-time employees.

How to calculate vacation pay for civic holidays

There is a simple formula you can use to calculate an entitled employee's vacation pay. Simply take the regular wages over the last four weeks before the holiday and divide by 20. This formula applies to statutory holiday pay for part-time employees and full-time employees.

"Regular wages" does not include overtime pay, termination pay, severance and premium pay, termination of assignment pay (for temporary help agency employees) personal emergency leave pay, domestic or sexual violence leave pay or pay for other holidays.

Can employees work during statutory holidays?

Your employee can agree electronically or in writing to work on the holiday and be paid:

  • their regular wages for all hours worked on the public holiday and receive another substitute holiday for which they must be paid public holiday pay.

or

  • public holiday pay plus premium pay for all hours worked on the public holiday and not receive another day off (called a “substitute” holiday)

Read our in-depth article to learn more about statutory holidays pay in Ontario.

READ MORE

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