Canada (federal) public holidays 2026

2026 at a glance

• Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December and is observed on Monday 28 December.
• In 2026, public holidays fall on 10 weekdays in Canada (federal), the same as in 2025.

When New Year's Day, Canada Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Canada Labour Code gives a paid day off on the scheduled work day immediately before or after it. These counts use the work day after; if your employer gives the day before, your total changes only when the two days fall in different months.

Public holidays in 2026

11 dates are counted as non-working in Canada (federal) in 2026; 10 of them fall on a weekday.

• observed substitute weekday off

Working days and hours by month

Working days are Monday to Friday minus the counted holidays. Hours are shown for a 7.5-hour and an 8-hour working day.

• Jan 21 working days in January, 1 holiday
• Feb 20 working days in February
• Mar 22 working days in March
• Apr 21 working days in April, 1 holiday
• May 20 working days in May, 1 holiday
• Jun 22 working days in June
• Jul 22 working days in July, 1 holiday
• Aug 21 working days in August
• Sep 20 working days in September, 2 holidays
• Oct 21 working days in October, 1 holiday
• Nov 20 working days in November, 1 holiday
• Dec 21 working days in December, 3 holidays

Compare with the rest of Canada

Long weekends in 2026

Runs of three or more days off in a row without taking leave.

• 3 days Friday 3 April 2026 to Sunday 5 April 2026
• 3 days Saturday 16 May 2026 to Monday 18 May 2026
• 3 days Saturday 5 September 2026 to Monday 7 September 2026
• 3 days Saturday 10 October 2026 to Monday 12 October 2026
• 4 days Friday 25 December 2026 to Monday 28 December 2026

Best days to take leave in 2026

The longest single break for each number of leave days, built around a public holiday.

Leave plans for the whole year

Non-overlapping breaks that give the most days off for a given number of leave days.

Try any budget from 1 to 30 days in the leave planner

Countdown

The days to the next holiday appear here when JavaScript is on.

The working days left this month and this year appear here when JavaScript is on.

Count working days between two dates

Calendar and data downloads

The subscription works in Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar. The CSV file also lists the days observed by some.

About public holidays in Canada (federal)

Canada has no single list of public holidays for every worker. The federal rules in Part III of the Canada Labour Code apply to employees of federally regulated employers, and provinces set their own lists in their own employment standards laws; the Canada Revenue Agency notes that several provinces and territories have their own holidays. The Canada (federal) page on this site counts the Canada Labour Code list; the Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec pages follow each province's law.

Section 166 of the Canada Labour Code defines ten general holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (observed on 30 September), Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In 2027 Good Friday is on 26 March, Victoria Day on Monday 24 May, Labour Day on Monday 6 September, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Thursday 30 September and Thanksgiving Day on Monday 11 October.

None of these holidays is proclaimed year by year: each follows a fixed date or weekday rule. Three of them are also fixed by the Holidays Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. H-5). Canada Day is 1 July, but when 1 July is a Sunday, 2 July is the legal holiday; the next time this happens is 2029, when Canada Day is kept on Monday 2 July. Victoria Day is the Monday immediately preceding 25 May, and Remembrance Day is 11 November.

The Labour Program states the rule for weekends. If New Year's Day, Canada Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, 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 it. For the other four holidays, a holiday with pay may be added to annual vacation or granted at a time convenient to both employee and employer.

In 2027 Christmas Day is a Saturday and Boxing Day a Sunday. This site shows Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December 2027 as the days off, the scheduled work days immediately after; the rule also allows the work day before. In 2026 Boxing Day is a Saturday, and this site shows Monday 28 December 2026.

Under section 195, an employer may substitute another day for a general holiday. For unionized employees this needs a written agreement with the union; for non-unionized employees it needs the employee's written approval, or the approval of at least 70% of the affected employees with 30 days' posted notice.

Days not in the section 166 list, such as Easter Monday or the first Monday in August, are not general holidays under the Code. The Canada Revenue Agency keeps a separate list for tax deadlines: for 2026 it includes Easter Monday (6 April) and a Civic Holiday on Monday 3 August, outside Quebec.

Source and last check

Dates are calculated with the python-holidays library 0.108 and checked against the official sources below. Last checked: 15 November 2026.

Sources

• https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/federal-labour-standards/vacations-holidays.html
• https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-166.html
• https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/H-5/page-1.html
• https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/public-holidays.html

How the counts are made