Christmas and Boxing Day 2026 stat holidays by province

Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25, 2026, is a paid holiday in every province and territory, but Boxing Day, Saturday, Dec. 26, is a paid holiday only for federally regulated workers and in Ontario, according to the Government of Canada and Ontario.ca.

Updated Oct. 20, 2026.

British Columbia and Alberta both say plainly that Boxing Day is not a statutory or general holiday, though Alberta lets employers recognize it by choice. The table below shows every jurisdiction, using the lists each government publishes.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day by province

“Not listed” means Boxing Day does not appear in the holiday list on that government’s page as we read it. Employers, collective agreements and municipal bylaws can still give the day off, so check your own contract. Our guide to 2027 statutory holidays by province has the full list of days for each jurisdiction.

Boxing Day falls on a Saturday

Many people do not work Saturdays, so the weekend date changes how the holiday is handled. For federally regulated employees, Canada.ca says that when Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday that is not a scheduled work day, the employee is entitled to a holiday with pay on the scheduled work day immediately before or after.

In Ontario, an employee whose public holiday falls on a day they do not normally work is entitled to a substitute day off with public holiday pay. If the employee agrees electronically or in writing, they can take public holiday pay instead. The substitute day must be scheduled within three months, or within 12 months if the employee agrees in writing.

Christmas Day itself is a Friday, so the weekend rules do not apply to it.

How holiday pay is calculated

Ontario’s guide says public holiday pay is all regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the week of the holiday, plus the vacation pay payable for those weeks, divided by 20. Federal general holiday pay is at least one-twentieth of the wages, excluding overtime, earned in the four weeks before the holiday week.

As a worked example, take an Ontario employee who earns $800 a week and has $128 in vacation pay (four per cent) payable for the four-week period. Regular wages are $3,200, so the calculation is ($3,200 + $128) divided by 20, or $166.40 in public holiday pay. A federally regulated employee with the same $3,200 in wages and no overtime would receive at least $160 under the federal formula.

Pay for working on the holiday

In Ontario, an employee who agrees electronically or in writing to work a public holiday can receive public holiday pay plus a premium rate of one and a half times their regular rate for each hour worked, or regular wages for the hours worked plus a substitute day off paid at public holiday pay. A worker earning $20 an hour who works eight hours on Boxing Day under the first option would earn $240 in premium pay, on top of holiday pay.

In Alberta, an employee who works a general holiday that falls on a regular work day has its own rules, which are set out on Alberta.ca. An employee who does not work on a general holiday that falls on a non-regular work day is neither eligible for holiday pay nor entitled to a day off in lieu with pay. One who works that day must be paid 1.5 times what they would normally earn for the hours worked.

Who qualifies

Alberta requires employees to have worked for the same employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday. Ontario applies a last-and-first rule: employees generally qualify unless they fail without reasonable cause to work their last scheduled shift before the holiday or their first scheduled shift after it. Other provinces set their own conditions, so follow the source link for your province.

What comes next

New Year’s Day 2027 is a Friday, Jan. 1, and every jurisdiction in our table lists it as a paid holiday. For other year-end money dates, see our guides to Black Friday 2026 in Canada, minimum wage by province and benefit payment dates for November. Which stores and services open on Dec. 25 and 26 is set by each employer and municipality, and we will update this page when provinces and chains publish their holiday hours.

Sources: Canada.ca federal labour standards, Ontario’s Guide to the Employment Standards Act, B.C. statutory holidays and Alberta general holidays, read Oct. 20, 2026. Other jurisdictions are linked in the table. This page is not legal advice.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.