A calendar with text that reads, “your “save the date” for the 2025 stat holiday schedule”.

Save the dates: here’s the 2026 statutory holiday schedule

Jan 02, 2026

Payworks

As a handy resource for Canadian businesses, we’ve put together a list of the statutory holidays in 2026, accompanied by the dates of the coinciding banking holidays!

What’s a statutory holiday?

Statutory holidays, also known as paid public holidays or general holidays, are designated days throughout the calendar year where it’s legislatively required (either at a federal, provincial, or territorial level) for eligible employees to receive the day off with pay or general holiday pay for working that day.

Why are statutory holidays important?

Statutory holidays are a critical element of payroll for Canadian businesses to ensure compliance with federal, provincial, or territory legislation when it comes to:

Adhering to legislated time off for staff.
Applying holiday or general holiday pay rates.
Planning around any impacts to payroll-processing dates (so your team is paid on time).

What all businesses need to know about federally-regulated statutory holidays

It’s equally important for Canadian businesses and employers to be aware of federally-regulated statutory holidays, even if they’re not a federally-regulated workplace. Why? Because Payments Canada, the organization responsible for payment clearing and settling, is federally regulated, thereby possibly impacting and changing the payroll-processing and pay dates for Canadian businesses (regardless of the jurisdiction in which their business is located).

In the chart below, federally-regulated statutory holidays are bolded.

For a list of federally-regulated workplaces, visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/federally-regulated-industries.html.

2026 statutory holidays

Holiday	Date	Banking Holiday
New Year’s Day	January 1, 2026	Thursday, January 1
Traditional Holiday (QC)	January 2, 2026	Friday, January 2
Third Monday in February¹	February 16, 2026	Monday, February 16
Good Friday	April 3, 2026	Friday, April 3
Easter Monday (QC)²	April 6, 2026	Monday, April 6
Victoria Day (Patriots’ Day in QC)³	May 18, 2026	Monday, May 18
National Indigenous Peoples Day (NT, YT)	June 21, 2026	-
National Holiday (QC)	June 24, 2026	Wednesday, June 24
Canada Day	July 1, 2026	Wednesday, July 1
Nunavut Day (NU)	July 9, 2026	Thursday, July 9
First Monday in August⁴	August 3, 2026	Monday, August 3
Discovery Day (YT)	August 17, 2026	Monday, August 17
Labour Day	September 7, 2026	Monday, September 7
National Day for Truth & Reconciliation⁵	September 30, 2026	Wednesday, September 30
Thanksgiving Day³	October 12, 2026	Monday, October 12
Remembrance Day⁶	November 11, 2026	Wednesay, November 11
Christmas Day	December 25, 2026	Friday, December 25
Boxing Day⁷	December 26, 2026	Monday, December 28

^{1 Statutory holiday in BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, PE, NS, and NB.}

^{2 In QC, it is the employer’s choice to observe either Good Friday or Easter Monday. (Employees working in the clothing industry are entitled to both days. Employees working in a clothing store do not belong to this industry.)}

^{3 Not a statutory holiday in PE, NS, NL, and NB.}

^{4 Statutory holiday in BC, SK, NT, NU, and NB. This is an optional day at the employer’s discretion in AB, MB, ON, PE, and NS.}

^{5 Statutory holiday in BC, MB, PE, NT, YT, and for federally-regulated workplaces (for NB and NU, this applies to public services employees and employees of provincially/territorially-regulated businesses.) This is an optional day at the employer’s discretion in AB.}

^{6 Offices closed in BC, AB, SK, MB, NB, PE, NL, YT, NT, NU. This is an optional day at the employer’s discretion in NS. Statutory holiday in ON, NU and for federally-regulated workplaces.}

^{7 Statutory holiday in ON, NU and for federally-regulated workplaces.}

We recommend processing payroll three business days in advance of employees’ payment dates. Taking weekends and the above banking holidays into consideration, at times that could mean your business is processing payroll anywhere from three to six days in advance of your employees’ payment date. Be sure to mark your calendar with the above dates so you’re not caught off guard as holidays approach!

For more information on statutory holidays in Canada and other complex payroll legislation, download a free copy of our Payroll Guide (which was JUST updated for 2026): https://www.payworks.ca/landing-pages/campaigns/payroll-guide.

Key topics in this article:

Resources T4 Season Year End Payroll Resources Business Owner SME Franchisee Hospitality Payroll Management

These articles are produced by Payworks as an information service. They are not intended to substitute professional legal, regulatory, tax, or financial advice. Readers must rely on their own advisors, as applicable, for such advice.