Ontario HR Compliance · CLC Part III (labour standards)
General (Statutory) Holidays (CLC Part III)
Federal employees get 10 general holidays, one more than Ontario's 9, because the federal list adds the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Remembrance Day.
Federally regulated employees get 10 general holidays:
- New Year’s Day
- Good Friday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Labour Day
- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30)
- Thanksgiving Day
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
That’s one more than Ontario’s 9 public holidays — the federal list adds the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Remembrance Day, neither of which Ontario’s Employment Standards Act recognizes as a statutory holiday.
General holiday pay for most employees is at least 1/20th of the wages, excluding overtime, earned in the 4-week period immediately before the week the holiday falls in. An employee who’s required to work on a general holiday is generally entitled to their holiday pay plus 1.5 times their regular rate for the hours actually worked. An employer can substitute another day for a general holiday under section 195 of the Code.
This is general information, not legal advice; confirm holiday pay calculations and any substituted-day arrangement before relying on them.
Source: Canada Labour Code, Part III ·
Also: Government of Canada — Federal labour standards: vacations and holidays
Last reviewed .
Confidence: Verified
Related notes
- Federal Minimum Wage (CLC Part III) — The federal minimum wage resets every April 1, indexed to the prior year's CPI and rounded up to the nearest $0.05, and an employer must pay the higher of the federal rate or the applicable provincial rate where the employee works.
- Hours of Work and Overtime (CLC Part III) — Standard federal hours are 8 a day and 40 a week, overtime is at least 1.5 times the regular rate beyond that, and a handful of exemptions and averaging arrangements can change the calculation.
- Breaks and Rest Periods (CLC Part III) — Federal employees get an unpaid 30-minute break every 5 consecutive hours of work, at least 8 consecutive hours of rest between work periods, and unpaid medical or nursing breaks where needed.
- Annual Vacation (CLC Part III) — Federal vacation entitlement is tiered by continuous service — 2 weeks/4% after 1 year, 3 weeks/6% after 5 years, 4 weeks/8% after 10 years — a richer scale than Ontario's, which has no statutory 4-week tier.
- Recordkeeping (CLC Part III) — Federal employers must keep hours and wage records for 36 months, paid-medical-leave records for 3 years, and the required averaging and holiday-substitution notices — recordkeeping failures are a designated AMP violation.
- Federal vs. Ontario Jurisdiction: The Employment-Law "Instead Of" Rule — A federally regulated employer follows the Canada Labour Code and related federal statutes in place of Ontario employment law, not on top of it — the federal regime replaces the ESA, OHSA, Human Rights Code, AODA and Pay Equity Act rather than adding to them.