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On 3 August 2026 the day is a statutory holiday in five of thirteen jurisdictions: British Columbia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Ontario is the one people get wrong. The Civic Holiday is not among the nine public holidays in the Employment Standards Act, 2000, so most of the province closes for a day no employer is required to pay for.
A statutory holiday in 5 of 13 provinces and territories.
Last reviewed · maintained by Ihor Bezrukavnyk · how we calculate
| Jurisdiction | Statutory holiday | |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta—pay formula → | No | — |
| British ColumbiaBritish Columbia Daypay formula → | Yes | British Columbia Day |
| Manitoba—pay formula → | No | — |
| New BrunswickNew Brunswick Daypay formula → | Yes | New Brunswick Day |
| Newfoundland and Labrador—pay formula → | No | — |
| Northwest TerritoriesFirst Monday in Augustpay formula → | Yes | First Monday in August |
| Nova Scotia—pay formula → | No | — |
| NunavutFirst Monday in August (Civic Holiday)pay formula → | Yes | First Monday in August (Civic Holiday) |
| Ontario—pay formula → | No | — |
| Prince Edward Island—pay formula → | No | — |
| Quebec—pay formula → | No | — |
| SaskatchewanSaskatchewan Daypay formula → | Yes | Saskatchewan Day |
| Yukon—pay formula → | No | — |
Nothing about the day came from Ottawa or from a provincial legislature. Cities invented it. Toronto's council set aside a mid-summer day off in 1869 and later named it Simcoe Day, Ottawa calls its version Colonel By Day, and the generic name records that municipal origin exactly. A day off becomes an entitlement only when a legislature writes it into employment standards law, and five did. British Columbia Day, Saskatchewan Day and New Brunswick Day each sit in their province's statute by name. The two territories that observe it did not bother naming it, and legislate the first Monday in August.
The near-misses tell you more than the list does. Alberta calls it Heritage Day and treats it as an optional general holiday: it is not one of the Code's nine, but once an employer recognizes it, Alberta's holiday-pay rules apply to that day. Manitoba legislated the name and not the entitlement, so the first Monday in August is Terry Fox Day and still not a general holiday. Yukon takes its August holiday two weeks later, on Discovery Day. And Canada Labour Code s. 166 names ten general holidays, none in August, so a bank or rail employee in Vancouver works British Columbia Day like an ordinary Monday.
Where the day is statutory it is paid on that jurisdiction's ordinary holiday terms, and the three provinces each do it differently. The two territories share one formula — Nunavut kept the old N.W.T. text when it split off. British Columbia averages: wages earned in the 30 calendar days before, overtime out, divided by the days you worked or earned wages in them. Saskatchewan pays five per cent of the previous 28 days. New Brunswick pays a regular day. The province guide has the arithmetic.
Everywhere else 3 August is an ordinary working day in law. If the employer closes, what you get comes from the contract, the policy or the collective agreement, and it can be nothing. Alberta is the halfway case: nothing is owed until the employer recognizes Heritage Day, and then the holiday-pay rules attach to it.
Questions people actually ask
No. The Employment Standards Act, 2000 lists nine public holidays and the first Monday in August is not one of them. Banks, the LCBO and government offices close, and most employers give the day, but a closure is not an entitlement. Work it and you are paid your ordinary rate with no premium, unless a contract or collective agreement says otherwise.
Yes, if you qualify. BC Day is named in the Employment Standards Act definition of statutory holiday. You need 30 calendar days of employment before it and work or earned wages on 15 of those 30 days. It then pays an average day's pay, and hours worked on the day pay 1.5× for the first 12 and 2× beyond.
No, and not even in the provinces that observe it. Canada Labour Code s. 196(1) pays holiday pay for the general holidays listed in s. 166, and that list has ten days, none of them in August. A bank, airline, rail, telecom or interprovincial trucking employee in Saskatoon or Vancouver works the day unless a policy or collective agreement gives it.
Because it started as a municipal day off and each place named its own. Where a legislature later adopted it, the local name went into the statute: British Columbia Day, Saskatchewan Day, New Brunswick Day. Where it did not, the name floats free of any entitlement, which is what Terry Fox Day in Manitoba and Simcoe Day in Toronto are.
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.