Alberta, Canada public holidays 2026

2026 at a glance

• In 2026, public holidays fall on 9 weekdays in Alberta, the same as in 2025.

In Alberta, a holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is not moved to a fixed weekday: an employee who does not normally work that day, and does not work it, gets neither holiday pay nor a day off in lieu. These counts therefore subtract no substitute weekday; if your employer gives you one, count one working day fewer. The moves fixed by law are counted: Canada Day moves to 2 July when 1 July is a Sunday.

Public holidays in 2026

9 dates are counted as non-working in Alberta in 2026; 9 of them fall on a weekday.

• not counted some employers only

Also observed by some

4 more days are holidays only for some employers, sectors or areas in 2026. They are not counted as non-working days here.

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 19 working days in February, 1 holiday
• 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 21 working days in September, 1 holiday
• Oct 21 working days in October, 1 holiday
• Nov 20 working days in November, 1 holiday
• Dec 22 working days in December, 1 holiday

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 Saturday 14 February 2026 to Monday 16 February 2026
• 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
• 3 days Friday 25 December 2026 to Sunday 27 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 Alberta

In Alberta, general holidays are set by the Employment Standards Code, Part 2, Division 5, which covers general holidays and holiday pay. The Government of Alberta publishes the list and the rules. Employees of federally regulated employers follow the Canada Labour Code instead; their list is on the Canada (federal) page of this site.

Alberta has nine general holidays: New Year's Day, Alberta Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day and Christmas Day. In 2027 they fall on Friday 1 January, Monday 15 February, Friday 26 March, Monday 24 May, Thursday 1 July, Monday 6 September, Monday 11 October, Thursday 11 November and Saturday 25 December.

Alberta also has optional general holidays, which employers may choose to recognize: Easter Monday (the first Monday after Easter), Heritage Day (the first Monday in August), the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (30 September) and Boxing Day (26 December). The province states that if an employer recognizes an optional general holiday, the holiday pay rules apply to it. In 2027 these days fall on Monday 29 March, Monday 2 August, Thursday 30 September and Sunday 26 December.

The Code does not move a general holiday that falls on a weekend. The province states that if a general holiday falls on a day the employee does not normally work, and the employee does not work that day, the employee is not eligible for holiday pay nor entitled to a day off in lieu with pay. In 2027 Christmas Day is a Saturday, so this rule applies to employees who do not normally work on Saturdays.

Some days differ from the federal list. Alberta Family Day in February is a general holiday in Alberta but not under the Canada Labour Code. Boxing Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are general holidays under the Code but only optional general holidays in Alberta. Easter Monday is neither a federal general holiday nor a general holiday in Alberta, only an optional one.

On this site, the Alberta page counts the nine general holidays as non-working days. The optional general holidays are shown in a separate list, because they depend on each employer, and are not counted in the working-day totals.

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.alberta.ca/general-holidays-pay
• https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-166.html
• https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/federal-labour-standards/vacations-holidays.html

How the counts are made