When are the Ontario Public Holidays in 2025?
Each year, businesses must recognize legislated public holidays throughout the year, commonly known as statutory, or “stat,” holidays. Typically, recognition takes the form of the business closing for the day and employees receiving public holiday pay. Despite this practice recurring every year, public holidays still prompt questions for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. Below is An Employer’s Guide to Ontario Public Holidays 2025 to help answer your questions.
In Ontario, businesses must recognize nine stat holidays.
Required Public Holidays 2025
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Wednesday, January 1 |
| Family Day | Monday, February 17 |
| Good Friday | Friday, April 18 |
| Victoria Day | Monday, May 19 |
| Canada Day | Tuesday, July 1 |
| Labour Day | Monday, September 1 |
| Thanksgiving Day | Monday, October 13 |
| Christmas Day | Thursday, December 25 |
| Boxing Day | Friday, December 26 |
Optional Public Holidays:
Other typically observed “holidays” like the Civic Holiday, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance Day, and Easter Monday are not legislatively required. They are observed at an employer’s discretion.
Is Everyone Entitled?
Most employees in Ontario are entitled to take these public holidays off and be paid public holiday pay. This includes salaried, seasonal, contract, casual, and part-time employees. Some employees in Ontario may be required to work on stat holidays in 2025. Other employees may work in jobs that are exempted from public holiday provisions. To determine whether special rules apply, refer to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and its regulations or the government document “Industries and jobs with exemptions or special rules.”
What is the « last and first » Rule?
In Ontario for 2025, employees must work their last scheduled day before the holiday and the first scheduled day after. If there is reasonable cause for missing these workdays however the employee is entitled to the holiday pay.
Tips for Applying the « last and first » rule:
- It’s critical to remember the word “scheduled.” For example, if an employee takes a job-protected leave, then their last regularly scheduled day would be their last day at work. Their first regularly scheduled day would be the day they are expected back from the leave. Another common example would be a part-time worker who only works Tuesday to Thursday. Their last regularly scheduled day would be the last shift they were scheduled to work before the holiday and the first shift they are scheduled to work after the holiday.
- If the employee fails to meet this requirement without reasonable cause, then they are not entitled to public holiday pay.
- Reasonable cause may include circumstances or situations that are beyond the employee’s control and prevent them from working. For example, a manager approving the employee leaving early or arriving late, or unplanned emergencies that prevent the employee from working. If the employee has reasonable cause, they are still entitled to holiday pay.
How do you Calculate Public Holiday Pay?
An employee’s entitlement to public holiday pay in Ontario is calculated from the total amount of regular wages earned in the four workweeks before the week of the public holiday, divided by 20. “Regular wages” don’t include vacation pay, but the calculation for public holiday pay does include any vacation pay payable in those four weeks.
Calculating Public Holiday Pay Tips
- When reviewing the four weeks before the public holiday, do not include the week that the public holiday falls in.
- Regular wages do not include overtime pay, premium pay, termination pay, public holiday pay, severance pay, or vacation pay.
- If you provide a percentage of vacation pay on each paycheque, then this amount must be included when calculating public holiday pay.
- If you provided a vacation pay payment to an employee for vacation that they will be taking after the public holiday, do not include this in your calculation. For example: an employee is scheduled to be on vacation for the four days immediately following the public holiday. Company policy is to pay their vacation pay before vacation, so the company issues the holiday pay on a last payroll run before the holiday. This holiday pay amount should not be included in the calculation of public holiday pay because it is for time that has not yet been taken. Please note that vacation pay for that week should be considered in future public holiday pay calculation if the week of vacation falls in the four-week review period of the next public holiday.
The intention of the public holiday pay calculation is to pay each employee a fair and appropriate amount of public holiday pay that reflects an average daily rate. If we keep this intention in mind when performing our calculation, it does help to make the process easier.
What Happens When the Public Holiday Falls on a Non-Working Day?
The employee is entitled to either:
- A substitute holiday off with public holiday pay; or
- Only public holiday pay for the public holiday if the employee agrees to this electronically or in writing.
Depending on the nature of your workplace, most organizations recognize an alternate day off work. For example, when Canada Day falls on a Saturday, many organizations recognize Monday as the holiday. Where this substitute holiday is put in place, that results in Saturday, July 1, being treated as a regular day with respect to pay rate.
The most common reasons to forfeit the stat holiday time are part-time or casual workers who are already working a limited schedule, seasonal workers, and service sector employers that want to remain open during busy times.
Can I Ask Employees to Work on a Public Holiday?
Yes, you can ask employees to work on the statutory holiday in Ontario. However, they need to agree electronically or in writing (e-mail is often the easiest way).
Those who work on a public holiday are entitled to one of these two options:
- Regular wages for all hours worked on the public holiday, plus a substitute day off work with public holiday pay, which must be taken within three months of the public holiday, or within 12 months if there is an agreement in place; or
- Public holiday pay for the public holiday, plus premium pay (rate of 1.5 times their regular wages) for all hours worked on the public holiday (note: the employee needs to agree to forfeit the substitute day off).
Employees who work in hotels, motels, resorts, restaurants, taverns, hospitals, nursing homes, and continuous operations can be required to work on the public holiday without their agreement if the holiday falls on a day that the employee normally works and the employee is not on vacation. In addition, the employer chooses which payment or recognition options will apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
I just hired a new employee who started one week before the holiday. Are they entitled to public holiday pay?
Yes. The employee will have some wages in the four weeks before the holiday, so they are entitled to public holiday pay. However, the resulting pay will be minimal, as it will include only the one week of wages but still be divided by 20.
We just had an employee start parental leave immediately following the public holiday. Are they entitled to public holiday pay?
Yes. However, the employee must work the last shift before the holiday and the first scheduled shift after the holiday. The first scheduled shift after the holiday would be the day they are expected back at work following their leave.
As a business, you have two options in this scenario:
- Calculate the pay and hold it for payment upon their return; or
- Offer a greater right or benefit, calculate and pay the public holiday on their last payroll run.
Note: If the last payroll run is completed and you have already issued a Record of Employment (ROE), we suggest you hold the payment. Issuing payment could result in needing to provide an updated ROE and may affect EI earnings for the employee.
We have a few employees on temporary layoff. Are they entitled to public holiday pay?
Yes. The last and first rule still applies in this scenario. The entitlement is based on wages earned during the four weeks prior, and again divided by 20. Only once you recall the employees (and if they return to work) would they be owed the public holiday pay.
An employee resigned, and their scheduled last shift is the day before the public holiday. Are they entitled to public holiday pay?
No. Public holidays in Ontario apply to employees; as of the public holiday, this person would no longer be an employee. They are not scheduled to work any shifts after the holiday, and are therefore not entitled to the public holiday pay.
Check Out Our Other Stat Holiday Guides
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