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 statutory 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:
While Ontario has legislated stat holidays, there are several other holidays that are commonly observed but are at the employers discretion. These optional holidays include:
- Civic holiday: The first Monday in August
- National day for truth and reconciliation: A day for reflection and reconciliation
- Remembrance day: Honouring veterans and those who served
- Easter Monday: The Monday following Easter Sunday
Employers in Ontario determine whether these optional holidays are paid days off. Employees should consult their workplace policies or speak with their HR department to confirm their company’s stance on these holidays. This information is crucial for both employees planning their year and employers managing staffing and payroll.
Is Everyone in Ontario Entitled to the Stat Holidays?
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. While most employees can expect paid holiday time, it’s essential to understand potential exceptions. Some employees might be required to work on a stat holiday, or their employment might fall under specific ESA exemptions. For detailed information and to determine your specific entitlement, consult the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and its regulations, or the government guide, “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:
The key word here is “scheduled.” This means the rule applies to an employee’s regularly scheduled shifts. Here are some examples:
- Leave of Absence: If an employee is on a job-protected leave, their last scheduled day is their last working day before the leave began, and their first scheduled day is their return-to-work date after the leave.
- Part-Time Employees: For part-time workers with set schedules (e.g., Tuesdays and Thursdays), their last scheduled day is their last Tuesday or Thursday shift before the holiday, and their first scheduled day is their next scheduled Tuesday or Thursday after the holiday.
Exceptions: “Reasonable Cause” for Absence
If an employee misses their last or first scheduled day due to “reasonable cause,” they are still entitled to holiday pay. “Reasonable cause” typically includes situations beyond the employee’s control, such as:
- Manager-approved early departure or late arrival.
- Unplanned emergencies preventing attendance.
If an employee fails to meet the “last and first” rule without reasonable cause, they will not receive public holiday pay. Understanding this rule is vital for both employees and employers to ensure proper holiday pay entitlement in Ontario for 2025.
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
- Four-Week Period: When reviewing the four weeks before the public holiday, do not include the week that the public holiday falls in.
- Regular Wages: “Regular wages” do not include overtime pay, premium pay, termination pay, public holiday pay, severance pay, or vacation pay.
- Vacation Pay Inclusion: If you provide a percentage of vacation pay on each paycheque, then this amount must be included when calculating public holiday pay.
- Vacation Pay Exclusion (Future Vacation): Vacation pay intended for a vacation period after the public holiday should not be included. For example, if an employee is taking vacation immediately following the holiday and receives vacation pay in advance, that vacation pay is excluded from the public holiday pay calculation. However, that vacation pay will be considered in future public holiday pay calculations if the vacation week falls within the four-week review period for a subsequent 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?
What happens if a public holiday falls on an employee’s regular non-working day? In Ontario, employees are still entitled to public holiday pay. They will typically receive one of the following:
- A substitute holiday: A day with public holiday pay, often observed on a nearby workday, for example the following Monday if there is a holiday on the Sunday.
- Holiday pay only: With the employee’s agreement, electronically or in writing, the employer can provide only the public holiday pay without a substitute day off.
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:
- Option 1: Regular Pay + Substitute Day Off: Regular wages for all hours worked on the holiday, plus a substitute day off with public holiday pay. This substitute day must be taken within three months of the holiday (or within 12 months if a written agreement is in place).
- Option 2: Premium Pay + Holiday Pay: Public holiday pay, plus premium pay (1.5 times their regular wage) for all hours worked on the holiday. To choose this option, the employee must agree to forgo 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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