British Columbia recognizes eleven paid statutory holidays each year under the provincial Employment Standards Act, and BC stat holidays apply to full-time, part-time, casual, and temporary employees alike, provided you meet a short work-history test before each one. If you qualify, you get an average day’s pay for the holiday whether you work it or not, plus premium rates on top if your employer schedules you in.
The Eleven Statutory Holidays in 2026
- New Year’s Day — Thursday, January 1
- Family Day — Monday, February 16
- Good Friday — Friday, April 3
- Victoria Day — Monday, May 18
- Canada Day — Wednesday, July 1
- B.C. Day — Monday, August 3
- Labour Day — Monday, September 7
- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — Wednesday, September 30
- Thanksgiving Day — Monday, October 12
- Remembrance Day — Wednesday, November 11
- Christmas Day — Friday, December 25
Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays in B.C.1Province of British Columbia. Statutory Holidays Plenty of employers close on those days anyway, but provincial law doesn’t require it.
Who Qualifies for Holiday Pay
Eligibility is a two-part test, applied fresh before each holiday. You must have been employed by your current employer for at least 30 calendar days before the holiday, and you must have worked or earned wages on at least 15 of those 30 days.2Government of British Columbia. Qualify for Statutory Holiday Pay Paid vacation days and any other paid stat holidays inside that 30-day window count toward the 15. Employees under an averaging agreement qualify if they worked at any point during the 30-day period.3Government of British Columbia. Entitlement to Statutory Holiday – Act Part 5, Section 44
If you fail the test and work the holiday, you’re paid your regular rate for the hours worked, with no premium.2Government of British Columbia. Qualify for Statutory Holiday Pay If you fail it and don’t work, you get nothing for the day. Count your days before each holiday if your schedule has been uneven.
How Much You Get Paid for the Day
Stat holiday pay equals an “average day’s pay,” calculated with a single formula: total eligible wages in the 30 calendar days before the holiday, divided by the number of days you worked in that same period.4Province of British Columbia. Statutory Holiday Pay – Act Part 5, Section 45
Eligible wages include regular wages, salary, commissions, vacation pay taken during the period, sick pay required by the Act, and stat holiday pay from any other holidays in those 30 days. Overtime pay is excluded.5Province of British Columbia. Calculate Statutory Holiday Pay Days worked includes any day you earned wages, including paid vacation and paid sick days.
A worked example: $3,200 in eligible wages across 20 working days in the preceding month gives an average day’s pay of $160. That’s what you receive for the stat holiday, whether you take it off or work it. The formula scales naturally with hours, so part-time workers get proportionately less than full-timers rather than being shut out.
If You Work the Holiday
Eligible employees who work on a statutory holiday get three separate amounts, and they stack:
- Your average day’s pay, calculated as above, paid regardless of hours worked on the holiday
- Time-and-a-half for the first 12 hours worked
- Double time for any hours beyond 12
All three combine.6Government of British Columbia. If Employee Is Required to Work on Statutory Holiday – Act Part 5, Section 46 An employee earning $25 an hour who works eight hours on Canada Day gets $300 in premium wages ($37.50 × 8) plus their average day’s pay on top. Past the 12-hour mark, the rate doubles.
When the Holiday Falls on Your Day Off
You still get your average day’s pay. The Act applies the average day’s pay whether or not the holiday lands on a day you were scheduled to work.4Province of British Columbia. Statutory Holiday Pay – Act Part 5, Section 45 Your employer isn’t required to give you a different day off in exchange. You get the money, not a substitute day.
Swapping a Holiday for Another Day
Employers and employees can agree in writing to shift a statutory holiday to a different day. Individual swaps take mutual written agreement. Group swaps need the consent of more than 50% of affected employees, with a written record kept for at least four years.7Province of British Columbia. Substituting Another Day for a Statutory Holiday – Act Part 5, Section 48 The substitute day carries the same pay rules as the original. Collective agreements often handle this in unionized workplaces, provided the terms meet or exceed the Act.
Who the Rules Don’t Cover
Several groups fall outside the provincial statutory holiday regime.
Managers. The part of the Act that governs statutory holidays doesn’t apply to managers.8Government of British Columbia. Managers A managerial title alone isn’t the test. The Employment Standards Branch looks at whether you actually direct other employees and exercise independent judgment.
Listed professionals. The Employment Standards Regulation excludes a long list of regulated professionals when they’re doing the work governed by their professional legislation. This includes chartered professional accountants, lawyers and articled students, engineers, architects, insurance agents and adjusters, land surveyors, real estate licensees, securities registrants, veterinarians, and professional foresters, along with several health professions including physicians, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, naturopaths, and podiatric medicine practitioners.9BC Laws. Employment Standards Regulation If your profession is on the list, your terms come from your professional body and your contract rather than the Act.
High technology professionals. Systems analysts, software engineers, and similar roles at qualifying high tech companies are excluded from the overtime and statutory holiday provisions.10Province of British Columbia. Employment Standards Regulation – Exclusions, High Technology Companies A company qualifies when more than 50% of its employees are high tech professionals, managers of those professionals, or executives.
Federally regulated employees. If you work for a bank, airline, telecommunications company, or interprovincial transportation firm, the B.C. Act doesn’t apply. Your holidays come from the Canada Labour Code, which has ten general holidays rather than eleven. The federal list includes Boxing Day but not Family Day or B.C. Day, and both eligibility and pay calculations differ.11Government of Canada. Annual Vacations and General Holidays for Employees Working for Federally Regulated Employers
If You Weren’t Paid What You’re Owed
You can file a complaint with the Employment Standards Branch online. If you still work for the employer, the Branch reviews issues going back up to one year before your complaint date. If you’ve already left the job, you must file within six months of your last day of work, and the Branch reviews the final year of your employment.12Government of British Columbia. File an Employment Standards Complaint You can request confidentiality, or submit an anonymous tip instead of a formal complaint. If informal resolution fails, the Director of Employment Standards issues a written determination that includes mandatory administrative penalties for each violation. Missing the six-month post-employment deadline sinks a lot of otherwise valid claims, so file early rather than late.