Alberta statutory holiday pay calculator (2026)
If it falls on a day you normally work and you do not work it, the day pays your average daily wage — the four weeks before it, divided by the days worked. Work out your own figure — the calculator below runs the province's formula on your wages.
Alberta has nine general holidays, and the pay for one of them is your average daily wage: the wages from the four weeks behind you, divided by the days you worked in them. Alberta says general holiday where other provinces say statutory holiday; the days are the same idea.
Work out your general holiday pay
Alberta averages a day too, over the four weeks before the general holiday — so it needs the days you actually worked in them.
Wages, general holiday pay and vacation pay from those four weeks, with overtime pay left out.
The days the average is built on — count the days you actually worked.
This is the average daily wage. What you are owed for working the general holiday builds on it — the section below sets out how.
Who qualifies
These are the conditions Alberta puts on the day. They sit on the shifts around the holiday and on your time with the employer — not on how many hours you worked in the week itself.
- Thirty workdays in the last twelve monthsYou must have worked for the same employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the general holiday.
- Do not be absent without consent around itAn employee absent on the last regular workday before the holiday, or the first regular workday after it, without the employer's consent, does not receive general holiday pay for it.
- Work the holiday if you are scheduledIf you are required or scheduled to work on the general holiday and do not, the general holiday pay goes with it.
- Regular day of work, or notThis one changes the amount rather than the qualification. A general holiday landing on a day you normally work is paid differently from one landing on a day you do not. If you work an irregular schedule and there is doubt whether the holiday falls on a day you would normally have worked (s. 27(1)), it counts as a normal work day if you worked that day of the week in at least 5 of the 9 weeks before the week of the holiday (s. 27(2)).
Some industries operate under their own Alberta regulations, and a collective agreement can set better terms than the Code. Where both apply, the better term governs.
The Alberta formula: the average daily wage
The formula
wages in the 4 weeks before the general holiday ÷ number of days worked in those 4 weeks
- The divisor is days worked, so the average follows the shape of your last four weeks instead of a fixed number of days.
- Alberta lets the employer measure those four weeks in either of two ways: the four weeks immediately before the general holiday, or the four weeks ending on the last day of the pay period before it. The two windows can produce slightly different averages.
- Where the four weeks contain pay for days you did not actually work, check the Alberta guidance below before adding it to the total — the average is built on days worked.
Check what the base leaves out. Where a jurisdiction averages your wages, what it strips out of that average decides the day’s pay — and the answer is not the same across the country. The line below is this jurisdiction’s own.
Worked example
- Days worked in the 4 weeks before the holiday
- 18
- Wages in that window, overtime excluded
- $3,240.00
- Divide by days worked
- 18
- Average daily wage
- $180.00
The same wages spread over 22 shorter days instead of 18 give $147.27 — the average moves with the shape of the window, not only with the money in it.
Overtime is not in the wage base
Overtime pay does not count toward the total. The average daily wage is meant to describe an ordinary day of work, so the premium half of a long week is left out of it entirely.
It is the line worth checking first: if a general holiday pay figure looks high after a heavy week, check what went into the base it came from — and check it against this jurisdiction, not the one next door.
Alberta general holiday dates in 2026
| Holiday | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January 2026 | Thursday |
| Alberta Family Day | 16 February 2026 | Monday |
| Good Friday | 3 April 2026 | Friday |
| Victoria Day | 18 May 2026 | Monday |
| Canada Day | 1 July 2026 | Wednesday |
| Labour Day | 7 September 2026 | Monday |
| Thanksgiving Daynext | 12 October 2026 | Monday |
| Remembrance Day | 11 November 2026 | Wednesday |
| Christmas Day | 25 December 2026 | Friday |
Not a general holiday in Alberta: Boxing Day (optional: an employer that observes it is expected to apply the general holiday rules)
No 2026 date falls on a Saturday or Sunday. A holiday can still land on a day you personally do not work. Alberta separates a general holiday that falls on a regular day of work from one that does not. If the day is not one you normally work and you do not work it, no average daily wage is paid for it; if you do work it, the hours are paid at 1.5× the regular rate.
- Four more days are optional in Alberta rather than general holidays: Easter Monday (6 April 2026), Heritage Day (3 August 2026), the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (30 September 2026) and Boxing Day (26 December 2026). An employer may observe any of them, and an employer that does is expected to apply the general holiday rules to that day.
- Whether a general holiday falls on a day you normally work changes what is paid rather than whether you qualify — the two cases are set out below.
If you work the holiday
If the holiday is a regular day of work for you
The employer pays one of two combinations: the average daily wage plus 1.5× the regular rate for every hour worked, or regular wages for those hours plus another day off later paid at the average daily wage. On the example above the first option is $180.00 plus $288.00 for an eight-hour shift: $468.00.
If it is not a regular day of work
Hours worked on the holiday are paid at 1.5× the regular rate — $36.00 an hour in the example — and no average daily wage is added on top.
The employer picks between them
Where both combinations are open, the choice belongs to the employer, not to the calculation. On a pay stub it shows up either as a holiday-pay line beside a premium line, or as a plain day of wages with a day off booked for later.
Whether hours worked on a holiday also count toward the week’s overtime threshold is a separate question with a separate answer in each province. Check it against the overtime rules for Alberta rather than assuming it either way.
General holiday pay in Alberta
How is general holiday pay calculated in Alberta?
Take the wages earned in the four weeks before the general holiday and divide by the number of days worked in that window. Eighteen days worked and $3,240.00 in wages give an average daily wage of $180.00. That figure is what a qualifying employee is paid for a general holiday that falls on a regular day of work.
Who qualifies for general holiday pay in Alberta?
An employee who has worked for the same employer at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the general holiday. Being absent without the employer's consent on the last regular workday before the holiday or the first one after it, or not working the holiday when scheduled to, removes the pay for that day.
Does overtime count toward the average daily wage?
No. Overtime pay is excluded from the wage total, so the four weeks that earned you the most can still produce an ordinary average daily wage. The figure is designed to describe a normal day of work rather than a long one.
What am I paid for working a general holiday in Alberta?
If the holiday falls on a regular day of work, the employer pays either the average daily wage plus 1.5× for each hour worked, or regular wages for those hours plus a day off later at the average daily wage. If it is not a regular day of work, the hours are paid at 1.5× with no average daily wage on top. An eight-hour shift at $24.00 is $288.00 of premium pay.
Is Heritage Day a general holiday in Alberta?
No. Alberta's list runs to nine days. Heritage Day in August, Easter Monday, Boxing Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are optional: an employer may observe them, and an employer that does is expected to apply the general holiday rules to that day.
How do I know if a general holiday is a normal work day for me in Alberta?
If you work an irregular schedule and there is doubt whether the holiday falls on a day you would normally have worked (Employment Standards Code s. 27(1)), count back nine weeks: it is a normal work day if you worked that day of the week in at least 5 of the 9 weeks before the week of the holiday (s. 27(2)). For Thanksgiving Day, Monday 12 October 2026, count the Mondays; for Remembrance Day, Wednesday 11 November, count the Wednesdays. If it is not a normal work day and you do not work it, no general holiday pay is owed. If you work it, the hours are paid at 1.5× the regular rate (s. 30).
Why did my average daily wage change from last time?
Because it is an average over the days you worked in a four-week window, and both parts move. A stretch with short shifts or missed days pulls it down, and Alberta also lets the employer measure the four weeks either immediately before the holiday or ending with the last pay period, which can shift the result.
Check the rest of the pay period
A holiday sits inside a week that has its own rules — Alberta pays overtime after 44h in a week and after 8h in a day. Overtally runs that side of the arithmetic, hour by hour, and shows every line behind the total.
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sources
- Alberta — General holidays and general holiday pay
- Employment Standards Code, RSA 2000, c E-9, ss. 25–30
- Employment Standards Code, s. 21
Every figure on this page traces to the statute or agency page above. If one is out of date, tell us — corrections ship the same week.
Overtally computes what you should be paid before taxes. It does not calculate take-home pay, withholding or deductions, and it is not legal advice — it is your own record and your own estimate.