Public Holidays in Canada - Statutory Holidays

Statutory Holidays

A statutory holiday (also known as "stats" or "general" or "public" holiday) in Canada is legislated either through the federal, or a provincial or territorial government. Most workers, public and private, are entitled to take the day off with regular pay. However, some employers may require employees to work on such a holiday, but the employee must either receive a day off in lieu of the holiday or must be paid at a premium rate — usually 1½ (known as "time and a half") or twice (known as "double time") the regular pay for their time worked that day, in addition to the holiday pay (except for high technology workers in British Columbia). In most provinces, when a statutory holiday falls on a normal day off (generally a weekend), the following work day is considered a statutory holiday. Statistics Canada shows an average of 11 paid statutory holidays per year in regard to all firms and corporations operating within the province.