Holiday Pay in Ontario: Working a Public Holiday
Picture the schedule that goes up in early December. Your name is on December 25, or maybe Boxing Day, and a small voice asks: is that shift worth more, or is it just a Friday with fewer customers? In Ontario, holiday pay (the law calls it public holiday pay) is owed to most employees for each of nine public holidays. If you work the day, you are paid in one of two ways, and your employer chooses which. Here is how both work, with a made-up example you can follow with your own numbers.
Which days count as public holidays in Ontario
The Employment Standards Act lists nine: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Other days that feel like holidays, such as Remembrance Day or Halloween, are not on the list for most workplaces. Your employer may still choose to treat them differently, so check your contract or ask.
How public holiday pay is worked out
If you are entitled to it, public holiday pay is not simply a day's normal wage. The usual formula is:
- Add up the regular wages you earned in the four work weeks before the work week that includes the holiday.
- Add the vacation pay you were owed on those wages.
- Divide the total by 20.
Regular wages mean your normal hourly pay for those weeks. Overtime pay and premium pay are not part of that figure. Because the number comes from your recent earnings, a student with light weeks gets a smaller amount than someone who worked full time, and that is how the rule is meant to work.
A worked example: one holiday week
Here is an example with made-up numbers. Suppose a student earns $18 an hour and, over the four work weeks before the holiday week, earns $1,200 in regular wages. Vacation pay at 4% on those wages is $48.
- Regular wages plus vacation pay: $1,200 + $48 = $1,248
- Divided by 20: $1,248 ÷ 20 = $62.40 of public holiday pay
That $62.40 is what the student is owed for the holiday itself, even with no shift that day. Your real amount depends on your own wages, so do not use these numbers for your own pay.
If you work on the public holiday
Say the same student works a six-hour shift on the holiday. The employer must pay in one of two ways:
- Option 1, premium pay. You get your public holiday pay ($62.40) plus 1.5 times your regular rate for the hours you worked. Six hours at $27 is $162, so the total is $62.40 + $162 = $224.40.
- Option 2, a substitute day. You are paid your regular rate for the hours worked (6 × $18 = $108) and given another paid day off. That day off is paid with the same $62.40, and the date must be agreed in writing. The substitute must be taken within a set time, which the official guide spells out.
Both options add up to a similar amount of money over time. One pays more today; the other gives you a day off later. If you have exams in the new year, Option 2 may be worth asking about, but the employer's choice, not yours, decides which applies unless you agree otherwise.
Do you qualify for holiday pay?
Most employees do, but there is a condition worth knowing. In general, you need to work your last regularly scheduled shift before the holiday and your first regularly scheduled shift after it, unless you have a reasonable excuse such as being sick. Skipping the shift after a holiday weekend can cost you the holiday pay. Some jobs, such as certain industries and workplaces, follow special rules, so use the official guide if yours is unusual.
Holiday pay and overtime also interact with each other. Hours on a holiday count toward your week's total, which matters for the 44-hour overtime line.
What to look for on your pay stub
After a holiday period, open the stub for that pay period. You should see either a public holiday pay line or a premium rate line. Our pay stub checklist shows how to read the lines, and the post on what comes off your paycheque in Ontario explains why the amount that lands is less than the gross. If the holiday lines are missing, ask your employer how they worked it out before you assume a mistake.
How CampusWage helps
Holiday weeks are easy to lose track of, because shifts, classes and an unusual pay calendar all collide. CampusWage, a free shift and wage tracker for students, keeps your shifts and classes in one week, shows what each shift pays after unpaid breaks, overtime and vacation pay, and turns each pay period into a pay cheque with its pay date, so you can check it against what lands. Your pay stub is always the final word.
Questions people ask
Do part-time and student workers get public holiday pay?
Generally yes, if the job is covered by the Act and you meet the shift conditions. Being a student or working part time does not remove it.
Can I refuse to work on a public holiday?
In many jobs an employee can refuse, but some workplaces are exceptions, and the details depend on the job. Check the official guide, and ask before you assume.
Does holiday pay come with deductions?
Yes. It is employment income, so CPP, EI and income tax come off it like the rest of your pay, and it appears on your T4 slip.
What if the holiday falls on a day I do not normally work?
You can still be entitled to public holiday pay. The formula looks at your earlier wages, not the day you were scheduled. The official guide covers the exact cases.
I am an international student. Does this change my hours?
Holiday pay does not change your study permit limits. Working a holiday still counts toward your off-campus hours during a term, and the current rules come from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Our post on working over winter break on a study permit has more.
This is general information, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules and amounts change, and some jobs follow special rules. Check ontario.ca, the Canada Revenue Agency and IRCC for the current rules.