Thanksgiving falls on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, but whether you get a paid day off depends heavily on where you live and who signs your paycheque. Most provinces and territories treat it as a statutory holiday, while Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island do not, and sources disagree about a couple of others.
The picture below draws on provincial and federal listings compiled by HR Insider, the payroll firm Payworks and the B.C. government. Because employment rules are set province by province, workers should confirm their own situation with their provincial labour standards office or their collective agreement.
According to HR Insider’s 2026 listing, Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday for federally regulated workplaces and in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The B.C. government confirms that Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in that province on Oct. 12, and says holiday pay equals an average day’s pay whether an employee works or takes the day off.
Payworks, in a 2024 guide for employers, describes the pay rules in broad strokes. In Ontario, eligible employees generally get the day off with public holiday pay. In Alberta, workers are to be paid for working on the day or for a day in lieu. In Quebec, eligible employees receive the day off and an indemnity. In Saskatchewan, eligible workers can receive the day off with pay, or the business can stay open and pay holiday pay to staff who work. Eligibility rules, such as how long you have been employed, differ by province.
The Atlantic provinces are where it gets complicated. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island do not list Thanksgiving as a paid public holiday. In Nova Scotia, however, Thanksgiving is a designated retail closing day. The Nova Scotia Advocate has reported that most retail shops and large grocery and drug stores must close on Thanksgiving Monday, but that the closing rule is not the same as a paid holiday. Non-unionized workers in businesses that are allowed to operate can be required to work at regular pay, while unionized workers often get the day paid through their collective agreements.
New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador are where our sources conflict. Payworks lists both as provinces where Thanksgiving is not a paid public holiday, while HR Insider and another holiday listing, OfficeHolidays.com, treat Thanksgiving as a statutory holiday in at least one of them. Canada News Media could not resolve the difference from the sources available, so workers in those two provinces should check directly with their provincial employment standards office before assuming they will or will not be paid.
For shoppers, the practical advice is simple. Do not assume your usual grocery store, pharmacy or liquor outlet is open. Hours vary by chain and by municipality, and in provinces with retail closing rules some stores must shut entirely. Check the store’s website or app on the weekend, and plan the Thanksgiving dinner shopping for Saturday or Sunday. Transit agencies often run on holiday or Sunday schedules, and government offices, banks and schools are typically closed where the day is a statutory holiday.
The holiday also matters for the people who keep things running. Retail, hospitality, health care and transit workers are among those most likely to be scheduled on the long weekend. In provinces where Thanksgiving is a stat, those workers are generally entitled to premium pay or a paid day in lieu if they qualify. In provinces where it is not, working Monday can mean regular wages and nothing more, which is one reason labour advocates in Nova Scotia have long pointed to Thanksgiving as a gap in the province’s holiday rules.
Canada News Media has previously published a guide on Thanksgiving turkey safety for those cooking the holiday meal.
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Sources: HR Insider (2026 statutory holidays across Canada), Government of British Columbia, Payworks, Nova Scotia Advocate, OfficeHolidays.com. Via HR Insider.
