British Columbia statutory holiday pay calculator (2026)
If you qualify and do not work it, the day pays an average day's pay: the 30 calendar days before it, divided by the days you worked. Work out your own figure — the calculator below runs the province's formula on your wages.
British Columbia has eleven statutory holidays, and the pay for one of them is an average day's pay: everything you earned in the last 30 calendar days, spread over the days you actually worked.
Work out your statutory holiday pay
B.C. averages a day rather than dividing by a fixed number, so it needs the days you actually worked in the 30 calendar days before the holiday.
Wages and commission earned in those 30 days, with overtime pay left out.
Count every day you worked at all, whatever its length — plus any day of paid leave.
This is the day itself. Working the holiday adds time and a half for the first 12 hours and double time beyond — that is separate from the figure above.
Who qualifies
These are the conditions British Columbia 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 calendar days on the payrollYou must have been employed for at least 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday. These are days of employment, not days worked.
- Fifteen of the last thirty days worked or paidYou must have worked or earned wages on at least 15 of the 30 calendar days immediately before the holiday.
- No last-and-first rule hereUnlike Ontario and Alberta, British Columbia does not withdraw statutory holiday pay because you missed the shift before or after the holiday. The two tests above are what decide it.
- Averaging agreements replace the fifteen-day testWhere the work is covered by an averaging agreement under the Act during that 30-day window, the 15-day condition does not apply and the employment condition is the live test.
A collective agreement that meets or beats the Act's statutory holiday provisions can replace them, in which case the agreement is what to read.
The B.C. formula: an average day's pay
The formula
total wages in the 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday ÷ number of days worked in those 30 days
- The window is 30 calendar days, not 30 worked days, and it ends the day before the holiday.
- The divisor is the days you actually worked in that window — not 30, and not the days you were scheduled. Twenty days worked means dividing by twenty.
- Total wages includes regular wages, commissions, statutory holiday pay and paid vacation falling inside the window.
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 30 calendar days before the holiday
- 20
- Total wages in that window, overtime excluded
- $3,150.00
- Divide by days worked
- 20
- Average day's pay
- $157.50
Nine overtime hours in the same window, paid $283.50 at time and a half, stay outside the $3,150.00.
Overtime is not in the wage base
Overtime pay is the item the Act takes out of total wages. The weeks where you worked the most can leave the average day's pay untouched, because only the straight-time side of them counts.
It is the line worth checking first: if a statutory 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.
British Columbia statutory holiday dates in 2026
| Holiday | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January 2026 | Thursday |
| Family Day | 16 February 2026 | Monday |
| Good Friday | 3 April 2026 | Friday |
| Victoria Day | 18 May 2026 | Monday |
| Canada Day | 1 July 2026 | Wednesday |
| British Columbia Day | 3 August 2026 | Monday |
| Labour Day | 7 September 2026 | Monday |
| National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | 30 September 2026 | Wednesday |
| Thanksgiving Daynext | 12 October 2026 | Monday |
| Remembrance Day | 11 November 2026 | Wednesday |
| Christmas Day | 25 December 2026 | Friday |
Not a statutory holiday in British Columbia: Boxing Day
No 2026 date falls on a Saturday or Sunday. A holiday can still land on a day you personally do not work. A statutory holiday that falls on a day you would not normally work still produces an average day's pay for an employee who qualifies. An employer and an employee, or a union, can also agree to substitute another day for the holiday; the substituted day then carries the statutory holiday rules.
- Those eleven are the whole list. Boxing Day and Easter Monday are not statutory holidays in British Columbia. Many employers close on them anyway, and when they do the terms are the employer's rather than the Act's.
- The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, 30 September, has been a B.C. statutory holiday since 2023. It is not one in every province, so a national employer may treat it differently across the country.
If you work the holiday
Time and a half for the first 12 hours
An employee who works on a statutory holiday is paid 1.5× the regular rate for the first 12 hours of that day. Eight hours at $21.00 comes to $252.00.
Double time past 12 hours
Every hour past 12 in the same day is 2× — $42.00 an hour in the same example. It is the same two-tier daily structure British Columbia uses for ordinary overtime.
The average day's pay sits on top
For an employee who qualifies, the average day's pay is paid in addition to the hours worked. The example day lands at $157.50 plus $252.00: $409.50.
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 British Columbia rather than assuming it either way.
Statutory holiday pay in British Columbia
How is statutory holiday pay calculated in British Columbia?
Divide the total wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday by the number of days you actually worked in that window. Twenty days worked and $3,150.00 in wages give an average day's pay of $157.50. The window is calendar days; the divisor is worked days.
Do I qualify for statutory holiday pay in B.C.?
Two conditions decide it: at least 30 calendar days of employment before the holiday, and work or earned wages on at least 15 of the 30 calendar days immediately before it. Where an averaging agreement under the Act covers the work in that window, the 15-day condition does not apply.
Does overtime count toward an average day's pay?
No. Total wages for this calculation takes in regular wages, commissions, statutory holiday pay and paid vacation from inside the 30-day window, but not overtime pay. A heavy overtime month therefore leaves the average day's pay where it was.
What am I paid for working a statutory holiday in B.C.?
Hours worked on the holiday are paid at 1.5× the regular rate for the first 12 hours of the day and 2× beyond that, and an employee who qualifies is paid an average day's pay on top. An eight-hour shift at $21.00 comes to $252.00 for the hours plus $157.50: $409.50.
Is Boxing Day a statutory holiday in British Columbia?
No. British Columbia's list runs to eleven days and Boxing Day is not on it, nor is Easter Monday. Employers often close for them, but a closure by policy is not the same as a statutory holiday, and the Act's pay rules do not attach to it.
What if a statutory holiday falls on my regular day off?
An employee who qualifies still receives an average day's pay for it. Separately, an employer and an employee or union can agree to substitute another day for the statutory holiday, in which case the substituted day is the one the statutory holiday rules apply to.
Check the rest of the pay period
A holiday sits inside a week that has its own rules — British Columbia pays overtime after 40h 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.
Overtally for iPhone — coming soonHoliday pay in other provinces and territories
sources
- Employment Standards Act (British Columbia), ss. 44–48 — Statutory holidays
- B.C. Employment Standards Branch — Statutory holidays
- Employment Standards Act, s. 40
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.