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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Canada

The list of Canada bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

 © 1989-2008 Alter Ego Services

16 Aug 2008 (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Reacting to renewed calls to have August 15, Acadian Day, made into a provincial, if not national, public holiday, New Brunswick's provincial Premier, Shawn Graham, indicated that this was not a priority for his government. • 06 Apr 2008 (CBC + The Chronicle Herald) The new Liberal government of the Province of Prince Edward's Island announced the creation of a new provincial public holiday, "Islander Day", to be held on the second Monday in February, beginning in 2009. • 19 Feb 2008 (Le Devoir-Montréal) Yesterday was the first occurrence of the new Family Day/Louis Riel Day public holiday decreed last fall in Ontario and Manitoba. But many federal civil servants were not eligible for this new holiday, and in that context, NDP party leader, Jack Layton, urged the federal government to make Family Day a national public holiday, starting in 2009. • 02 Nov 2007 (Winipeg Free Press) Manitoba's federal government employees will not get the day off on the occasion of Manitoba's new provincial public holiday, Louis Riel Day. This also applies to workers in the many federally-regulated industries, though the major banks, despite being federally-regulated, said they would give their employees the day off with pay. • 20 Oct 2007 (La Presse Canadienne) Canada's Prime Minister declared that the new February Ontario public holiday would not be a holiday for federal civil servants, justifying his decision by the fact that federal civil servants already have 11 holidays. • 11 Oct 2007 (Associated Press) Beginning in 2008, Ontario will join the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, in observing a public holiday on the third Monday of February (called Family day in each province except for Manitoba). • 26 Sep 2007 (Government of Manitoba) Manitoba's Labour Minister, Nancy Allan, has announced that the new provincial public holiday to be held on the third Monday of February would be named after the historical figure, Louis Riel. • 14 Sep 2007 (Radio-Canada) The Ontario Green Party has announced that if it were to be elected, it would create six new public holidays: Ontario Day (first Monday in March), Earth Day (April 22), the Friday before the August Civic Holiday, November 11, as well as the dates of municipal and provincial elections. • 04 Sep 2007 (La Presse Canadienne) The Prime Minister of the Province of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, has proposed the creation of a new public holiday, called Family Day, on the third Monday in February. If this comes to pass, Ontario would join Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who also have a Family Day provincial public holiday in February. • 17 Aug 2007 (Cyberpresse) The leader of the Canadian opposition party, Stéphane Dion, has promised that August 15, the Fête nationale des Acadiens et des Acadiennes, would become a federal public holiday if the Liberal party comes to power in the next elections. • 08 Apr 2007 (Radio-Canada) The Labour Minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba, Nancy Allan, will introduce a bill, this coming week, to add a new public holiday, to occur every year, sometime in the month of February. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Canada public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Public holidays that fall on a weekend are often taken on a Monday, but not officially, except by banks. Some businesses take the Monday while others take the preceding Friday. Their observance is not uniform throughout the country or even throughout the provinces. • New Year's Day: Although some, such as banks, may have the following Monday off if it falls on a weekend, not everyone does. Some employers may give the time between Christmas and New Year's Day off and thus are open for business on Monday, January 2nd or 3rd. When New Year's Day falls on a weekend then all banks are closed on the following Monday. In QC January 2nd is also a bank holiday. When January 2nd falls on a Saturday, then all banks are closed on Monday, January 4th in the province of Quebec. When it falls on a Sunday, then banks in Quebec are closed on Monday and Tuesday, January 3rd and 4th respectively in QC. • Family Day (3rd Monday in February): in AB and, since 1990, in SK since 2006, and in MB and ON beginning in 2008 (however, federal civil servants, and employees in federally-regulated sectors, will not benefit from this provincial public holiday, in either MB or ON). • Heritage Day: in YT, in February. • Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday only in NL. There is, however, a push, altruistically sponsored by Guinness, to make Saint Patrick's Day a national holiday across Canada. • Easter: Employers in QC have the option of giving either Good Friday or Easter Monday off. The rest of Canada has Good Friday off. Federal employees get both days off, also in NU. Although many stores and shopping malls are open on Sundays, they do remain closed on Easter Sunday. • Saint George's Day: in NL, • Victoria Day: is not officially a statutory holiday in NB, NL, NS, or PE, but most people have it off anyway. • National Aboriginal Day: in NT and NU on June 21. • Discovery Day: in NL, • Saint Jean Baptiste Day: in QC on June 24, or June 25, for all, when the 24th is a Sunday. Banks in Quebec may close on the 23rd if the 24th is a Saturday. • Canada Day: Officially, only Canada Day is moved to a Monday when July 1 falls on a Sunday. There is no official stance when it falls on a Saturday, except for banks which take the next Monday, July 3rd, off. Many take Friday off when it falls on a Saturday. If Canada Day falls on a non-working or vacation day, qualified employees can either take a substitute work day off with public holiday pay or, if they agree in writing, they can receive public holiday pay for Canada Day with no substitute day off. Under the Retail Business Holidays Act, most retail outlets must close on Canada Day. Most employees who work in retail businesses - businesses that sell goods or services to the public - have the right to refuse to work on Canada Day even if they don't qualify for public holiday entitlements . • Orangemen's Day: in NL, • Nunavut Day: in NU, July 9. • Regatta Day: in NL, in August. • Civic Holiday: is referred to differently in various areas but most provinces have a holiday on the first Monday in August unless otherwise noted: • AB (Alberta): Heritage Day. BC (British Columbia): British Columbia Day. MB (Manitoba): Civic Holiday. NB (New Brunswick): New Brunswick Day. NL (Newfoundland and Labrador): Regatta Day. NS (Nova Scotia): Natal Day. ON (Ontario): Civic Holiday (or Simcoe Day in Toronto). PE (Prince Edward Island): Natal Day. QC (Quebec): St. Jean Baptiste (June 24). SK (Saskatchewan): Civic Holiday or Saskatchewan Day. NT (Northwest Territories): Civic Holiday. NU (Nunavut): Civic Holiday. YT (Yukon Territory): Discovery Day (3rd Monday in August.) • Thanksgiving: is not officially a statutory holiday in MB, NB, NL, NS and PE, but most people have it off anyway. • Remembrance Day (until 2006), it was not officially a statutory holiday in MB, NB, NL, ON, PE, and QC, however most Canadians had the day off except in ON and QC, where it was nevertheless observed with a moment of silence. Banks in all provinces did close on Remembrance Day, and when it fell on a weekend, then banks closed on the following Monday. • Remembrance Day (after 2006): the House of Commons bill C-354, An Act to amend the Holidays Act (Remembrance Day) which got its first reading, on September 26, 2006, made November 11 a legal holiday observed throughout Canada, and when November 11 is a Sunday, November 12 would be a legal holiday observed throughout Canada . • Boxing Day: is officially observed in NT, NU, ON, and QC, and by federal employees. It is unofficially observed by many others. Banks in all provinces close. If it falls on a Saturday, then banks close on Monday, December 27th. If it falls on a Sunday, then banks are closed both Monday and Tuesday, December 27th and 28th respectively. • For a list of provincial and non-official holidays in Canada from 2005-2010, see http://tinyurl.com/ckc6r. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Bank of Canada (Canada central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Canada, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Canada, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Canada, before planning any trip to Canada. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.