Canada Stat Holiday 2025: Federal & Provincial Date

Total federal statutory holidays in Canada for 2025: 9 · Provincial/territorial holiday count (varies): 6–12 depending on province · New statutory holiday added in 2021: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) · Year Victoria Day became a fixed Monday: 1952 · Provinces that observe Family Day in February: 6 · Next stat holiday in 2025 (after New Year’s Day): Good Friday (April 18)

Nine federal holidays, but the real story is how provinces stack their own calendars. The table below shows which dates are locked in and where the differences live.

What Are the Statutory Holidays in Canada for 2025?

The Canada Revenue Agency confirms nine federal statutory holidays for 2025. These apply to federally regulated workplaces — banks, airports, postal services, and federal government offices — and serve as a baseline for provincial legislation.

List of federal statutory holidays in 2025

• New Year’s Day — Wednesday, January 1
• Good Friday — Friday, April 18
• Easter Monday — Monday, April 21 (optional; common in many provinces)
• Victoria Day — Monday, May 19
• Canada Day — Tuesday, July 1
• Labour Day — Monday, September 1
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — Tuesday, September 30
• Thanksgiving — Monday, October 13
• Christmas Day — Thursday, December 25
• Boxing Day — Friday, December 26 (on the federal list; provincial status varies)

Every federal statutory date is set by the Canada Labour Code (federal employment legislation). For non-federally regulated employees — roughly 90% of Canadian workers — provincial rules determine which of these days are paid holidays.

Dates and days of the week for each holiday

Six of the ten federal holidays in 2025 fall on a Monday or Friday, creating long-weekend opportunities. Canada Day lands on a Tuesday, and Christmas on a Thursday — meaning some offices may bridge the gap with an extra day off.

The implication: federal and provincial differences create a complex landscape for workers across Canada.

Provincial and territorial variations

Each province and territory adds its own holidays. The most common add-ons are Family Day (February 17 in 2025), observed in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Saskatchewan according to StatutoryHolidays.com (public holiday aggregator), and Remembrance Day (November 11), which is a statutory paid day in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut — and optional in Ontario.

For more on Ontario-specific benefits, see Carbon Tax Rebate Ontario: Eligibility, Amounts & Dates 2025.

The implication: a worker in British Columbia gets 12 paid stat days in 2025, while a worker in Alberta gets 9. The difference comes down to which holidays each province chooses to mandate.

Who Gets September 30 Off in Canada?

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, created as a federal statutory holiday in 2021. But whether you actually get the day off depends on your employer’s regulatory classification — and your province.

Federal vs. provincial observance

For employees working in federally regulated sectors — banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transportation, and federal government — September 30 is a guaranteed paid holiday under the Canada Labour Code. For everyone else, provincial law governs.

List of provinces that have made it a statutory holiday

As of 2025, the Government of British Columbia (provincial employment standards regulator) lists September 30 as a statutory holiday. Nova Scotia’s Labour and Advanced Education department (provincial employment regulator) confirms the same. Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories have also made it a provincial statutory holiday.

That means a provincially regulated employee in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or the Northwest Territories gets September 30 off with pay. In other provinces — including Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec — it is not mandated provincially, though many employers grant it voluntarily.

Exemptions for non-federally regulated employers

The gap between federal and provincial rules creates a patchwork. A bank teller in Ontario gets September 30 off because banks are federally regulated. A retail worker in the same province may not — retail is provincially regulated and Ontario has not added September 30 to its list of statutory holidays.

What Is Victoria Day?

For many Canadians, Victoria Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer — first long weekend of the season, time to open the cottage, plant the garden. But the holiday’s origins go back more than a century.

History of Victoria Day

Victoria Day celebrates the birthday of Queen Victoria (May 24, 1819). After her death in 1901, the Canadian government designated her birthday as a holiday. In 1952, the date was fixed to the Monday before May 25, making it a movable Monday holiday.

When it is observed

In 2025, Victoria Day falls on Monday, May 19. The Canada Revenue Agency lists it as a statutory day for federally regulated employees, and most provinces follow suit.

Which provinces celebrate it

Victoria Day is a provincial statutory holiday in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Quebec replaces it with National Patriots’ Day (Quebec’s provincial statutory holiday on the same Monday), a separate observance honouring the Patriotes of the 1837–38 rebellions.

The pattern: what most Canadians call a single holiday actually represents two distinct statutory observances, each with its own legislative history and regional significance.

Why is September 30 a Holiday in Canada?

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — Canada’s newest federal statutory holiday, created to honour Indigenous survivors of the residential school system. Its origins trace to a specific recommendation from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Origin of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The holiday was created in 2021 in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (federal inquiry into residential schools), which called upon the federal government to establish a national day to commemorate the history and legacy of the residential school system.

Purpose of the holiday

The day is intended for reflection, education, and commemoration. It is not a “celebration” — it is a statutory day meant to provide space for Canadians to learn about the residential school system and honour survivors, their families, and their communities.

Relationship to Orange Shirt Day

September 30 has been observed as Orange Shirt Day since 2013, an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that began when a young survivor’s orange shirt was taken away on her first day at a residential school. The federal statutory holiday builds on that existing observance, giving it legal recognition as a paid day off.

Why this matters: the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is unique among Canadian statutory holidays — it is the only one created directly in response to a truth commission’s call to action, and its adoption at the provincial level remains uneven three years after its federal creation.

What Are the 12 Canadian Holidays?

A common search phrase — “12 Canadian holidays” — reflects a misunderstanding. There is no universal set of 12 statutory holidays across the country. The number depends entirely on province of residence and type of employer.

Common misconception about 12 statutory holidays

The federal government observes 9 statutory holidays. Some provinces, like British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, observe 12. Others, like Quebec, Alberta, and Nova Scotia, observe 9. The number 12 is not a national standard — it is a provincial maximum that applies only in certain jurisdictions.

Difference between federal and provincial total

The Canada Revenue Agency lists 10 dates (including Easter Monday and Boxing Day as optional) but only 9 are universally mandated at the federal level. Provinces add their own: Family Day, Remembrance Day, Civic Holiday (August), and in some cases, a provincial heritage day.

List of the most common statutory holidays across provinces

Across all provinces, the most consistently observed statutory holidays are: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Canada Day, Labour Day, and Christmas Day — 5 dates that are statutory in every province and territory. The remaining holidays vary.

The catch: when someone asks “what are the 12 Canadian holidays,” the real answer is “it depends where you live.” The phrase is useful as a shorthand but misleading as a legal description.

Provinces with 12 statutory holidays — British Columbia and Prince Edward Island — include Family Day, Victoria Day, Remembrance Day, and Boxing Day on top of the federal baseline. Provinces with 9, like Alberta and Quebec, omit several of those.

“Employers in federally regulated sectors — banking, telecommunications, and interprovincial transportation — are required to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a paid statutory holiday.”

Canada Revenue Agency, federal holiday compliance guidance

“Call to Action 80 calls upon the federal government to establish, in consultation with Indigenous peoples, a national day to commemorate the history and legacy of the residential school system.”

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Calls to Action (2015)

“British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act sets out 12 statutory holidays for 2025, including the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30.”

Government of British Columbia, Employment Standards Branch

The difference between federal and provincial statutory holiday rules shapes the real-world experience of nearly every Canadian worker. For federally regulated employees, the 2025 calendar is uniform coast to coast. For everyone else, the answer depends on province — and in some cases, on individual employer policy. For employers and workers alike, the clearest takeaway is this: check your province’s employment standards act rather than relying on a national list, because the national list only covers a minority of the workforce.

For updates on federal benefits, see Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit 2026: What to Know.

In 2025, workers across Canada should check the Truth and Reconciliation Day status in their province, as it remains a paid holiday for federally regulated employees only.

Frequently asked questions