Holiday pay in December 2026: the rules by province

Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25, 2026, is a paid public holiday in every province, but Boxing Day, Saturday, Dec. 26, counts as a public holiday in Ontario and not in British Columbia or Alberta, where the rules for holiday pay also differ.

Employers in each province must follow that province’s employment standards rules. Workers who are federally regulated, such as bank and airline employees, follow the Canada Labour Code instead, which is outside the scope of this guide. Our province-by-province list of Christmas and Boxing Day stat holidays shows which days off apply where.

In Ontario, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are both public holidays under the Employment Standards Act. According to the Ontario government’s employment standards guide, an employee who qualifies is paid public holiday pay equal to the regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the holiday’s work week, plus vacation pay payable on those wages, divided by 20. Employees can lose the entitlement if they miss their last regularly scheduled shift before the holiday or their first regularly scheduled shift after it without reasonable cause.

An Ontario employee who works on a public holiday is paid at least one and a half times the regular rate for each hour worked, on top of public holiday pay if entitled. The Ontario government says the employer and employee can instead agree in writing on regular wages for the hours worked plus a substitute day off with public holiday pay.

In British Columbia, Christmas Day is a statutory holiday and Boxing Day is not. The B.C. government’s employment standards guidance says an employee who works on a statutory holiday must be paid one and a half times the regular wage for up to 12 hours and double the regular wage for hours over 12, plus an average day’s pay.

In Alberta, Christmas Day is a general holiday and Boxing Day is an optional holiday, which means an employer is not required to give it as a paid day off. The Alberta government says an employee generally must have worked for the same employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday to qualify for general holiday pay. Pay is based on an average daily wage, which the employer calculates from the employee’s wages and days worked, and overtime pay is not counted in that average.

The Saturday date for Boxing Day matters most for people who do not normally work Saturdays. Rules for what happens when a holiday lands on a non-working day differ by province and by workplace, so employees should ask their employer or check the official page for their province.

Quebec, the Maritime provinces, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the territories each have their own lists and formulas, and some differ from the three provinces above on Boxing Day and on eligibility. Readers in those places should confirm the details on the employment standards website of their province or territory before relying on any figure here.

Employees who are unsure whether they are owed holiday pay can contact their provincial employment standards office. Many offices accept complaints about unpaid holiday pay, with time limits that vary by province.

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Sources: Ontario government, Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: public holidays; B.C. government, Employment Standards Act, Part 5, Section 46; Government of Alberta, general holidays. Related: 2027 statutory holidays by province, what’s open on Christmas Day 2026.