Statutory Holidays in Canada — A Complete List

# Statutory Holidays in Canada — A Complete List

Canada has several statutory holidays — days when most workers are entitled to paid time off, banks and government offices close, and many businesses shut down. Holidays vary slightly by province. Here is the complete list with what each one celebrates.

Canada Day (July 1)

Marks Confederation — the day the British North America Act came into force in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada. Originally called Dominion Day; renamed Canada Day in 1982. Celebrated with fireworks, parades, and the Canada Day Show on Parliament Hill.

For more, see [Canada Day — History and What It Celebrates](/blog/canada-day-history-july-1).

Victoria Day (Monday before May 25)

Originally Queen Victoria's birthday (May 24, 1819). Now honours the reigning Canadian monarch as well as Queen Victoria. It is the unofficial start of summer in Canada — many Canadians have summer cottages and open them for the season on Victoria Day weekend. Quebec calls it "Journée nationale des patriotes" (National Patriots' Day) instead.

Remembrance Day (November 11)

Honours Canadians who served and died in war and peacekeeping. The date marks the 1918 Armistice that ended World War I (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month).

Traditions:

• Red poppy worn on the lapel from the last Friday of October until November 11 — based on the poem "In Flanders Fields" by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae
• Two-minute silence at 11 a.m.
• National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa
• Royal Canadian Legion raises poppy donations to support veterans

It is a statutory holiday in most provinces but not in Ontario or Quebec.

Thanksgiving (Second Monday of October)

A harvest celebration with traditions traced to:

• Martin Frobisher's 1578 thanksgiving service in Newfoundland
• French settlers in the early 1600s
• English Loyalists who brought American Thanksgiving traditions to Canada

It became a federal holiday in 1879. The current date (second Monday of October) was set in 1957. Canadian Thanksgiving is about six weeks earlier than American Thanksgiving (which is the fourth Thursday of November).

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30)

A federal statutory holiday since 2021. It honours the children who attended residential schools and the survivors. Also called "Orange Shirt Day" — based on Phyllis Webstad's story of having her orange shirt taken from her on her first day at residential school.

Many Canadians wear orange shirts on this day. Federal government offices and federally regulated businesses close.

For more on residential schools, see the cluster-31 post on residential schools in Canada.

Labour Day (First Monday of September)

Honours the workers' rights movement. The first Labour Day parades were held in Toronto and Ottawa in 1872. It was made a federal statutory holiday in 1894. It also marks the end of summer in many parts of Canada — kids go back to school the next week.

Each province has its own holidays in addition to federal ones:

Quebec

• Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24) — Quebec's national holiday, celebrating French-Canadian culture
• Journée nationale des patriotes instead of Victoria Day

Newfoundland and Labrador

• St. Patrick's Day (March 17, government employees)
• St. George's Day (April 23, government employees)
• Discovery Day (June, government employees)
• Orangemen's Day (July, government employees)

Atlantic provinces

• Heritage Day (third Monday of February in NS)
• Family Day (third Monday of February in NB)

Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba

• Family Day (third Monday of February)
• Civic Holiday (first Monday of August — names vary: Civic Day, Heritage Day, BC Day, Saskatchewan Day, Terry Fox Day)

Yukon

• Discovery Day (third Monday of August) — celebrating the 1896 Klondike Gold discovery

Common citizenship-test questions:

• When is Canada Day? *(July 1)*
• What is Remembrance Day? *(November 11 — honours veterans)*
• What is Victoria Day? *(Monday before May 25 — honours Queen Victoria)*

Try our [free practice test](/practice-test) — it covers Canadian holidays in the same format you will see on test day.