First published on Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Last updated on Wednesday, June 4, 2025
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2025 Statutory holiday dates in Ontario
New Year's Day – Wednesday, January 1
Family Day – Monday, February 17*
Good Friday – Friday, April 18*
Victoria Day – Monday, May 19*
Canada Day – Tuesday, July 1
Labour Day – Monday, September 1*
Thanksgiving Day – Monday, October 13*
Christmas Day – Thursday, December 25
Boxing Day – Friday, December 26
*Long weekends
Keep in mind that your staff will likely book vacation time around long weekends to maximize their time off. If you have too many staff off at the same time, you might end up understaffed around stat holidays. Prepare in advance and manage your employee vacation time accordingly.
Remembrance Day is not a stat holiday in Ontario, but employers can choose to give this as a paid holiday to their employees.
Employer stat holiday responsibilities
As a qualifying employer in Ontario, you must ensure that eligible employees are given the day off or are compensated for working during those days. Unless your industry is exempt from the rule, you cannot force employees to work on these days.
If employees wish to work on these days, despite being eligible for the stat holiday break, they must provide a written, formal declaration that is agreed upon by the employee and employer. This can be done electronically or physically, and they must be compensated accordingly.
Here’s all you need to know about eligibility and compensation in different circumstances.
Employee eligibility for public holidays
The last/first rule
If an employee works their last scheduled shift before the public holiday and their first scheduled shift after it, they are eligible to receive holiday pay. If an employee has “reasonable cause” for missing either of the days, they are still eligible to be paid for the public holiday.
If an employee does not have reasonable cause for absence in their last/first scheduled days, they are no longer eligible for holiday pay.
Exemptions and special rules
Most businesses and employers in Ontario are covered under the Employment Standards Act, meaning most employees are eligible to take public holidays off, however, there are some nuances and exceptions to consider. Under the ESA some industries have exemptions, this includes, but is not limited to:
Hotels, motels, tourist resorts
Restaurants, taverns
Continuous operations
If employees are not eligible to take the public holiday off, and are required to come into work (unless they were not scheduled to work, or on vacation), they are entitled to either:
A regular rate of pay, with a substitute holiday at another time
Public holiday pay, plus premium pay per hour worked
There are more details around these entitlements below.
If an employee works during a stat holiday
If an employee is entitled to the stat holiday, but wishes to work on that given day, they can confirm in writing that they wish to work on the day if the business is open. Other employees that are required to work on these days are also eligible for the same compensation:
A regular rate of pay, with a substitute holiday at another time
Public holiday pay, plus premium pay per hour worked
How to calculate public holiday pay
To calculate your employees’ statutory holiday pay, take their standard wages (not overtime) for the last four weeks before the public holiday and divide the amount by 20.
If the employee was paid vacation pay during that four-week period prior, you should include this in the standard wage amount before dividing by 20.
You can use the Ontario Government’s self-service holiday pay calculator to estimate employee entitlement.
If an employee earned $25 an hour, and worked 8 hours a day for 4 weeks, their entitlement would be:
25 × 8 = 200 (Daily)
200 × 5 = 1000 (Weekly) - Do this for each of the 4 weeks individually
1000 × 4 = 4000 (4 Weeks)
4000 / 20 = 200 (Holiday pay)
How to calculate premium pay
To calculate premium pay, first calculate the employee’s hourly public holiday pay rate. Then, multiply the hourly rate by 1.5x.
You’ll pay the employee their hourly public holiday pay rate as well as the premium pay rate.
Holiday pay + Premium pay is not quite double time in Ontario, it is more. An employee working an 8-hour statutory holiday at $25/hour earns holiday pay based on their average daily wage ($200) plus premium pay of $300 (1.5× hourly rate × 8 hours), totaling $500 for the day.
How substitute holidays work
Substitute holidays are working days off in place of the public holiday. Employees are entitled to public holiday pay for these days off. Both employees and employers must agree to this, employers cannot force employees to choose this option. It must be confirmed in writing, either physically or electronically.
Calculating substitute holiday pay
You would calculate substitute holiday pay in the same manner as you would public holiday pay, but you would calculate it from the day of the substitute holiday, not the public holiday.
When substitute holidays should be taken
Substitute holidays should be taken by the employee within 3 months of the stat holiday, unless the employee has explicitly agreed in writing that they wish to take it within 12 months of the public holiday.
Manage your employee schedules with ease
Keeping track of employee time off can be difficult, but it is necessary in order to stay compliant with the ESA.
Whether you’re managing extra vacation time around public holidays and want to avoid being understaffed, or you need to securely store written agreements from employees, BrightHR can help.
Explore our employee scheduling software or book a demo to find out how we can help your business.
