The payroll info your biz needs to know for “August Long Weekend”

While the “August Long Weekend” is known across Canada as a perfect opportunity for camping, attending a backyard barbecue or exploring a local festival, it goes by many different official names across the country and has its own unique statutory holiday legislation. We’re here to help ensure your business is in the know to better navigate payroll-processing and general holiday pay info.

What's this day of significance?

The first Monday in August is a statutory holiday in five jurisdictions in Canada: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. There are five other provinces where it’s up to the employer’s discretion whether or not the day is observed: Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Like all statutory holidays, there’s specific payroll legislation to which you need to adhere, and the details of that legislation differ between provinces and territories. Let’s take a closer look at the details for the first Monday in August by province and territory…

British Columbia (BC)

The first Monday in August is a statutory holiday in BC and is known as British Columbia Day. Eligible employees are entitled to statutory holiday pay whether or not they work on this day.

For more information on statutory holidays in BC, including employee eligibility and how to calculate statutory holiday pay, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards/statutory-holidays.

Alberta

The first Monday in August is referred to as Alberta Heritage Day in the province. It’s not one of the province’s general holidays, but it’s an optional general holiday. This means it’s at the employer’s discretion whether or not to recognize Alberta Heritage Day as an additional holiday and if they do, all employment standards rules related to general holiday pay apply.

For more info on general holidays in Alberta, visit: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-general-holidays#general-holidays.

Saskatchewan

The first Monday in August is a public holiday in Saskatchewan, known as Saskatchewan Day. Businesses can close, with eligible employees receiving the day off with pay, or they can remain open, with employees who work receiving pay for working a public holiday.

For more information on public holidays in Saskatchewan, visit: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/employment-standards/public-statutory-holidays/list-of-saskatchewan-public-holidays.

Manitoba

The first Monday in August is known as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba, but it’s not one of the province’s general holidays. This means employees who work on this day are not legislatively required to receive general holiday pay. However, this is an optional day that can be observed at the employer’s discretion.

For more information on general holidays in Manitoba, visit: https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/doc,gen-holidays-after-april-30-07,factsheet.html#q12.

Ontario

The first Monday in August is known as Civic Holiday in Ontario. It’s not one of the province’s public holidays; it’s an optional day that can be observed at the employer’s discretion.

For more information on public holidays in Ontario, visit: https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/public-holidays.

Québec

The first Monday in August is not a paid statutory holiday in Québec. For more info on the province’s stat holidays, visit: https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/statutory-holidays/list-paid-statutory-holidays.

Newfoundland and Labrador

The first Monday in August is not a public holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador. While the first Wednesday of the month holds significance throughout the province as Regatta Day, it isn’t recognized as a legislated public holiday either. For more info on public holidays in the province, visit: https://www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/files/Publications_Labour_Relations_At_Work_Updates_October-2022.pdf.

New Brunswick

The first Monday in August is known as New Brunswick Day in the province, and is a paid public holiday. For more information about paid public holidays in New Brunswick, visit: https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/petl-epft/PDF/es/FactSheets/PublicHolidaysVacation.pdf.

Nova Scotia 

The first Monday in August is known as Natal Day in Nova Scotia, and is not one of the province’s paid holidays. It’s also not one of the province’s nine designated retail-closing days. However, this is an optional day that can be observed at the employer’s discretion. For more information on paid holidays in Nova Scotia, visit: https://novascotia.ca/lae/employmentrights/holidaychart.asp.

Prince Edward Island (PEI)

Like in Nova Scotia, the first Monday in August in PEI is known as Natal Day. It’s not one of the province’s paid holidays; this is an optional day that can be observed at the employer’s discretion. For more information on paid holidays in PEI, visit: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/workforce-advanced-learning-and-population/paid-holidays.

Yukon

The first Monday in August is not one of the Yukon’s statutory holidays. Rather, on the third Monday of the month, the territory recognizes Discovery Day. For more info on statutory holidays in the Yukon, visit: https://yukon.ca/en/find-yukon-statutory-holiday.

Northwest Territories

The first Monday in August is a statutory holiday in the Northwest Territories. For more information on the territory’s statutory holidays, visit: https://my.hr.gov.nt.ca/employees/leave-time/statutory-holidays.

Nunavut

The first Monday in August is a general holiday in Nunavut, and as such, eligible employees are to be paid according to the Labour Standards Act. For more information on general holidays in Nunavut, visit: https://www.nu-lsco.ca/faq-s.

Enjoyed this consolidated roundup of “August Long Weekend” statutory holiday legislation? For more peace of mind in paying your people accurately and ensuring payroll compliance, download the Payworks Payroll Guide. It’s a handy desktop resource that’s available at no charge and here to assist Canadian businesses in navigating important payroll legislation: https://www.payworks.ca/landing-pages/campaigns/payroll-guide.