Public holidays in Canada, 2026
Canada observes 8 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 253 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Mon, 16 Feb | Monday | Family Day | CA-AB, CA-BC, CA-NB, CA-ON, CA-SK |
| Mon, 16 Feb | Monday | Heritage Day | CA-NS |
| Mon, 16 Feb | Monday | Islander Day | CA-PE |
| Mon, 16 Feb | Monday | Louis Riel Day | CA-MB |
| Tue, 17 Mar | Tuesday | Saint Patrick's Day | CA-NL |
| Fri, 3 Apr | Friday | Good Friday | Nationwide |
| Mon, 6 Apr | Monday | Easter Monday | CA-AB, CA-PE |
| Thu, 23 Apr | Thursday | Saint George's Day | CA-NL |
| Mon, 18 May | Monday | National Patriots' Day | CA-QC |
| Mon, 18 May | Monday | Victoria Day | Nationwide |
| Sun, 21 Jun | Sunday Weekend | National Aboriginal Day | CA-NT |
| Wed, 24 Jun | Wednesday | Discovery Day | CA-NL |
| Wed, 24 Jun | Wednesday | National Holiday Fête nationale du Québec |
CA-QC |
| Wed, 1 Jul | Wednesday | Canada Day | Nationwide |
| Sun, 12 Jul | Sunday Weekend | Orangemen's Day | CA-NL |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | British Columbia Day | CA-BC |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | Civic Holiday | CA-MB, CA-NL, CA-NT, CA-NU, CA-ON |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | Heritage Day | CA-AB, CA-YT |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | Natal Day | CA-NS |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | New Brunswick Day | CA-NB |
| Mon, 3 Aug | Monday | Saskatchewan Day | CA-SK |
| Mon, 17 Aug | Monday | Discovery Day | CA-YT |
| Mon, 17 Aug | Monday | Gold Cup Parade Day | CA-PE |
| Mon, 7 Sep | Monday | Labour Day | Nationwide |
| Wed, 30 Sep | Wednesday | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Nationwide |
| Mon, 12 Oct | Monday | Thanksgiving | Nationwide |
| Wed, 11 Nov | Wednesday | Armistice Day | CA-NL |
| Wed, 11 Nov | Wednesday | Remembrance Day | CA-AB, CA-BC, CA-NB, CA-NT, CA-NS, CA-NU, CA-PE, CA-SK, CA-YT |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas Day | Nationwide |
| Sat, 26 Dec | Saturday Weekend | St. Stephen's Day Boxing Day |
CA-AB, CA-NB, CA-NS, CA-ON, CA-PE |
23 further dates are observed in some regions only and are not counted in the working day totals above.
Working days month by month
| Month | Calendar days | Weekend | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| February | 28 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 160 |
| March | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| April | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 160 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 176 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 8 | 253 | 2,024 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in Canada. Only nationwide holidays are deducted; a date observed in one region alone still counts as a working day here, because a national figure that moved with regional calendars would describe nobody accurately.
The longest working month is March at 22 days; the shortest is September at 20. That spread of 2 days matters for anything billed or accrued monthly, which is why payroll and capacity plans that assume an even year drift by the end of it. The thinnest quarter is Q1, carrying 63 working days across January, February, March.
Compared with 2025, which held 253 working days, 2026 is identical in length.
Against the 204 countries covered here for 2026, Canada's 8 nationwide holidays put it below the median of 12, around the 12th percentile. The range across all countries this year runs from 3 to 49.
The holidays produce 5 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 3 days, from 3 April 2026 to 5 April 2026, built around Good Friday. A further 1 working day is stranded between a holiday and a weekend, where one day of leave buys a break of four days or more. The full breakdown is here.
4 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2025: Good Friday, Victoria Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.
Notes on Canada
Canadian holidays split between federal and provincial jurisdiction. The federal statutory
holidays apply to federally regulated industries such as banking, telecommunications and
interprovincial transport; every other employer follows the rules of the province. The two lists
do not match, and neither does the treatment.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on 30 September has been a federal statutory holiday
since 2021, but it is not observed as a paid holiday in every province, which makes it one of the
clearest cases where a national figure describes nobody exactly.
Provincial days such as the August civic holiday and the February family day holidays vary in
both name and date across the country and are not in the national count here.