Quebec Statutory Holidays (2026): The 8 Holidays, the 1/20 Indemnity and Fête Nationale Rules

Quebec runs its statutory holidays differently from the rest of Canada. There are 8 of them, the pay is a fixed fraction of recent wages rather than a "day's pay", there is no time-and-a-half for working one, and the biggest holiday of the year — the Fête nationale on 24 June — sits in its own law with its own rules. This guide is for Quebec employers, payroll staff and employees who want the 2026 dates, the exact calculation, what happens when a holiday is worked or falls on a day off, and the special treatment of 24 June and Canada Day, with worked examples in Canadian dollars.

Quick answer

Quebec has 8 paid statutory holidays. For each one, the employee gets an indemnity of 1/20 of the wages earned in the four complete weeks of pay before the holiday week, overtime excluded. If they work the holiday, they're paid for the hours worked plus the indemnity or a paid compensatory day off — there's no time-and-a-half.

• Commission-paid staff: 1/60 of wages from the previous 12 complete weeks

• 24 June (Fête nationale): the only condition is being employed that day; moves to 25 June when it falls on a Sunday

• Canada Day moves to 2 July when 1 July is a Sunday

• Employer picks Good Friday or Easter Monday — not both

• Remembrance Day, Boxing Day and Truth and Reconciliation Day are not Quebec holidays

The 8 Quebec statutory holidays and their dates

Seven holidays come from the Act respecting labour standards, which the CNESST (Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail) administers. The eighth, 24 June, comes from the National Holiday Act. In everyday payroll they are treated as one list of eight, but the Fête nationale has its own eligibility and scheduling rules, covered below.

Quebec statutory holidays — 2026 and 2027 dates

Holiday	2026	2027
New Year's Day	Thursday 1 January	Friday 1 January
Good Friday or Easter Monday (employer's choice)	3 April or 6 April	26 March or 29 March
National Patriots' Day (Monday before 25 May)	Monday 18 May	Monday 24 May
Fête nationale du Québec	Wednesday 24 June	Thursday 24 June
Canada Day (2 July if 1 July is a Sunday)	Wednesday 1 July	Thursday 1 July
Labour Day (first Monday in September)	Monday 7 September	Monday 6 September
Thanksgiving (second Monday in October)	Monday 12 October	Monday 11 October
Christmas Day	Friday 25 December	Saturday 25 December

New Year's Day

2026

Thursday 1 January

2027

Friday 1 January

Good Friday or Easter Monday (employer's choice)

2026

3 April or 6 April

2027

26 March or 29 March

National Patriots' Day (Monday before 25 May)

2026

Monday 18 May

2027

Monday 24 May

Fête nationale du Québec

2026

Wednesday 24 June

2027

Thursday 24 June

Canada Day (2 July if 1 July is a Sunday)

2026

Wednesday 1 July

2027

Thursday 1 July

Labour Day (first Monday in September)

2026

Monday 7 September

2027

Monday 6 September

Thanksgiving (second Monday in October)

2026

Monday 12 October

2027

Monday 11 October

Christmas Day

2026

Friday 25 December

2027

Saturday 25 December

The Easter choice catches out employers who come from other provinces. In Quebec, the employer decides whether Good Friday or Easter Monday is the paid holiday; it only has to give one of them. Many employers that choose Good Friday keep Easter Monday as a regular working day, and vice versa. If a collective agreement or employment contract grants both, the contract governs, because the law sets only a floor.

The Monday before 25 May is called National Patriots' Day in Quebec. Elsewhere in Canada the same date is Victoria Day, which is why national payroll calendars sometimes label it differently. The pay rules are the same as for any other holiday under the Act.

Notice what isn't on the list. Remembrance Day (11 November), Boxing Day (26 December), Family Day in February, the August civic holiday and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (30 September) are not statutory holidays in Quebec. A Quebec employer can choose to give them, but there is no legal requirement to close or to pay an indemnity. The exception is federally regulated employers — more on them below.

Who qualifies for holiday pay

Quebec's rules are generous on eligibility. There is no minimum length of service and no requirement to have worked a set number of days in the month before. Full-time, part-time, temporary and casual employees all qualify; a part-timer's indemnity is smaller only because their recent wages are smaller.

For the seven holidays under the Act respecting labour standards, there is one condition. The employee loses the indemnity if they were absent from work on the working day before or the working day after the holiday without the employer's authorization or a valid reason. An approved vacation day, a medical appointment the employer agreed to, or an illness with a reasonable explanation are all examples of absences that don't cost the employee the holiday. An unexplained no-show on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is the classic case where the employer may lawfully withhold the indemnity.

For the Fête nationale, the condition is even simpler: the employee only has to be employed on 24 June. The before-and-after absence rule doesn't apply. That means someone who started work on 22 June, or who called in sick on 23 June, still gets the 24 June indemnity.

A few groups sit outside these rules or follow different ones. Interns doing a training placement aren't covered by the statutory holiday provisions. Employees covered by a collective agreement get the agreement's holiday terms, but an agreement can't give them less than the law. And employees of federally regulated businesses follow the Canada Labour Code, not Quebec's Act.

How the holiday indemnity is calculated

Quebec doesn't use an "average day's pay" or "regular wages for the day" the way Ontario, B.C. and Alberta do. It uses a fixed fraction of recent earnings:

• Most employees: 1/20 of the wages earned during the four complete weeks of pay before the week in which the holiday falls, without counting overtime.
• Employees paid wholly or partly by commission: 1/60 of the wages earned during the 12 complete weeks of pay before the holiday week.

The logic is that four weeks of a standard five-day schedule contain 20 working days, so one-twentieth is roughly one day's pay. For someone with a steady schedule the result is close to a normal day. For someone whose hours swing from week to week, the formula smooths out the swings instead of rewarding or penalizing the employee for the particular day the holiday happens to land on.

What counts as "wages" matters. Regular pay for hours worked counts, as do commissions for commission earners. Tips that are declared by the employee or attributed by the employer — the amounts that appear on the pay statement — must be included, which matters in restaurants and bars where tips can exceed the hourly wage. Overtime is left out. Because the period is "complete weeks of pay", a partial pay week at the start of employment isn't counted as a full week.

The formula also explains why the indemnity can look odd for someone who was off for part of the four-week window. An employee on two weeks' unpaid leave during the period earns less in those four weeks, so their indemnity is lower. The law doesn't adjust for this; it simply divides what was actually earned.

Calculating a Quebec holiday indemnity

1. 1

   Identify the holiday week

   Find the pay week that contains the holiday. The reference period ends the week before it.

2. 2

   Total the last four complete pay weeks

   Add regular wages and declared or attributed tips for the four complete weeks of pay before the holiday week. Leave out overtime.

3. 3

   Divide by 20

   The result is the indemnity. For commission earners, total 12 complete weeks instead and divide by 60.

4. 4

   Pay it with the week's wages — or give a day off

   Add the indemnity to the pay for the period, or, where the rules allow, give a paid compensatory day instead.

   Tip: Show the indemnity as its own line on the pay stub so the employee can check it.

Worked examples in C$

Full-time hourly employee. Mélanie works 40 hours a week at C$22 an hour in a Laval warehouse. Her four complete pay weeks before the week of Labour Day total 4 × C$880 = C$3,520. Her indemnity is C$3,520 ÷ 20 = C$176, the same as a normal eight-hour day.

Part-time employee at minimum wage. Kevin works three seven-hour shifts a week at the general minimum wage of C$16.60 an hour. His weekly pay is 21 × C$16.60 = C$348.60, so four weeks is C$1,394.40. His indemnity is C$1,394.40 ÷ 20 = C$69.72. He gets it even if the holiday falls on a day he doesn't normally work.

Tipped server. Julie earns the tipped-employee minimum of C$13.30 an hour for 30 hours a week and declares about C$600 a week in tips. Over four weeks that is 4 × C$399 in wages plus C$2,400 in tips, or C$3,996. Her Canada Day indemnity is C$3,996 ÷ 20 = C$199.80. Leaving the tips out would cut it to C$79.80 — a common error in restaurants.

Commission salesperson. Marc sells cars in Sherbrooke for a small base plus commission. In the 12 complete pay weeks before Thanksgiving he earned C$15,600. His indemnity is C$15,600 ÷ 60 = C$260.

Employee with a recent unpaid absence. Sophie normally earns C$1,000 a week but took one week of unpaid leave during the reference period, so she earned C$3,000 in the four weeks. Her indemnity is C$3,000 ÷ 20 = C$150, not C$200. That is the formula working as written, not an error.

Working on a statutory holiday

Quebec has no premium rate for working a statutory holiday. This surprises people from Ontario, B.C. or Alberta, where working a holiday means time-and-a-half. In Quebec, an employee who works a holiday is paid their regular wages for the hours worked and, in addition, the employer chooses one of two options:

1. Pay the holiday indemnity on top of the wages for the day, or
2. Give a paid compensatory day off — for the seven holidays under the Act, it must be taken within 3 weeks before or after the holiday.

Working a holiday — Quebec vs neighbours

Province	Pay for hours worked	Plus
Quebec	Regular rate	Indemnity (1/20 of 4 weeks) or a paid day off
Ontario	1½ times the regular rate (premium option) or regular rate + substitute day	Public holiday pay
British Columbia	time-and-a-half, double after 12 hours	Average day's pay
Federally regulated (in Quebec too)	1.5×	General holiday pay

Quebec

Pay for hours worked

Regular rate

Plus

Indemnity (1/20 of 4 weeks) or a paid day off

Ontario

Pay for hours worked

1½ times the regular rate (premium option) or regular rate + substitute day

Plus

Public holiday pay

British Columbia

Pay for hours worked

time-and-a-half, double after 12 hours

Plus

Average day's pay

Federally regulated (in Quebec too)

Pay for hours worked

1.5×

Plus

General holiday pay

The choice belongs to the employer, not the employee. A retailer that is open on Thanksgiving can pay a cashier for her shift and add the indemnity, or pay her for the shift and give her a paid day off sometime in the three weeks before or after. Either way, she ends up with roughly two days' pay for the holiday, one of them as time off if the employer prefers.

Overtime still applies normally. Quebec's standard work week is 40 hours a week, and hours beyond it are paid at time-and-a-half whether or not one of those days is a holiday. Our guide to overtime pay in Canada explains how Quebec counts the week. Holiday hours don't trigger a premium on their own; they count toward the weekly total like any other hours.

Worked example. Mélanie, from the earlier example, works an eight-hour shift on Canada Day. She earns C$176 for the shift. Her employer then either adds her C$176 indemnity, for a total of C$352 for the day, or pays the C$176 and gives her a paid compensatory day within three weeks.

When a holiday falls on a day off or during vacation

Since amendments in force on 12 June 2018, a Quebec employee is entitled to the indemnity even when the holiday doesn't coincide with their regular work schedule. Before that change, a holiday that fell on someone's normal day off could leave them with nothing. Now the employer must either pay the indemnity or give a paid compensatory day off on a date agreed with the employee.

This matters most for part-timers and shift workers. Kevin, who works Monday, Wednesday and Friday, still gets his C$69.72 indemnity for Canada Day 2027 even though 1 July falls on a Thursday that he never works. And for Christmas 2027, which falls on a Saturday, a Monday-to-Friday employee is owed the indemnity or a paid day off — the holiday doesn't simply disappear because it landed on a weekend.

A holiday that falls during an employee's annual vacation is handled the same way: it doesn't count as one of their vacation days, and the employer pays the indemnity or agrees another paid day off. If you manage vacation in Quebec, our vacation pay guide covers how the 4% and 6% rates and the 3 years service threshold work.

Holidays that land on a weekend, 2026–2027

24 June 2026 (Wed)

Normal working day for most — indemnity or adjacent compensatory day if worked

25 Dec 2027 (Sat)

Mon–Fri staff still get the indemnity or an agreed paid day off

1 Jan 2028 (Sat)

Same rule — the holiday doesn't disappear on a weekend

24 June 2029 (Sun)

25 June is the holiday for employees who don't usually work Sundays

The Fête nationale: special rules for 24 June

The Fête nationale du Québec, also called Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, is governed by the National Holiday Act rather than the Act respecting labour standards. The indemnity is calculated the same way — 1/20 of four complete weeks' wages, or 1/60 of 12 weeks for commission earners — but four rules differ.

Eligibility. The only requirement is to be employed on 24 June. No minimum service, no before-and-after attendance test. Employees whose employment is suspended on 24 June — for example on a long unpaid leave with no wages in the reference period — will usually get little or nothing because the formula divides wages actually earned.

Sunday rule. When 24 June falls on a Sunday, employees who don't usually work Sundays take 25 June as the holiday. Employees who regularly work Sundays keep 24 June. The next Sunday 24 June is in 2029.

Working on 24 June. An employee who must work on 24 June because of the nature of the business is paid wages for the work done plus the indemnity, or the employer can instead grant a paid compensatory day. Unlike the other holidays, that compensatory day must be the working day immediately before or after 24 June, not any day in a three-week window. If the employee is on annual vacation then, the employer and employee agree on the date.

Non-working day. If 24 June falls on a day the employee doesn't normally work, they still get the indemnity or a paid compensatory day, taken on their working day just before or after the holiday.

Federally regulated employers in Quebec are not bound by the National Holiday Act. A bank teller in Montreal gets 24 June off with pay only if their contract or collective agreement provides it; the Canada Labour Code's list doesn't include it.

Quebec holidays at a glance (2026)

8

Paid statutory holidays

1/20

Indemnity: share of 4 weeks' wages

1/60

Commission earners: share of 12 weeks

3 weeks

Window for a compensatory day

24 June: adjacent working day

Canada Day in Quebec

Canada Day is one of the seven holidays in the Act respecting labour standards, so the ordinary rules apply: the indemnity, the before-and-after absence rule and the three-week window for a compensatory day. The one twist is the date. When 1 July falls on a Sunday, the holiday is 2 July for Quebec purposes. In 2026 and 2027, 1 July falls on a weekday, so the date doesn't move.

Canada Day also coincides with Quebec's traditional moving day, when many leases end. That is a cultural custom, not a legal holiday, and doesn't change anything for payroll. What does matter is that 24 June and 1 July fall a week apart. Employers in retail, hospitality and moving services that stay open on both days should plan which staff take compensatory days and when, because the two holidays have different compensatory-day rules.

Federally regulated employers in Quebec

Banks, airlines, interprovincial trucking, telecommunications, broadcasting and other federally regulated businesses follow the Canada Labour Code, not Quebec's Act, even for staff working in Montreal or Quebec City. Under the Code there are 10 general holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The federal holiday pay formula is also one-twentieth of the wages earned in the four weeks before the holiday week, excluding overtime, but working a general holiday earns 1.5 times the regular rate plus holiday pay — a real premium that Quebec's provincial rules don't have. Federal law also allows substituting another day for a general holiday with the required written agreement, which is how some federally regulated employers in Quebec give 24 June instead of another holiday.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Paying time-and-a-half on holidays and nothing else. Some employers import Ontario's model and pay 1.5× for hours worked but no indemnity. In Quebec that can short-change a worker who should receive regular pay plus a full indemnity. On an eight-hour shift at C$22, 1.5× pays C$264, while the Quebec rule pays C$352. Fix it by paying the shortfall as a holiday indemnity adjustment.

Leaving tips out of the base. Declared and attributed tips are part of the wages used for the calculation. Restaurant payroll systems often calculate the indemnity on the hourly wage only. Recalculate using the pay-statement totals.

Ignoring part-timers whose schedule misses the holiday. Since 2018 the indemnity is owed even if the holiday isn't on the employee's normal working day. Run the calculation for every employee, not just those scheduled that day.

Using the three-week window for 24 June. For the Fête nationale, a compensatory day must be the working day just before or after. A day off in mid-July doesn't satisfy the National Holiday Act.

Withholding pay for any absence. Only an absence without authorization or valid reason on the working day before or after triggers the loss — and never for 24 June. Document the reason before refusing an indemnity.

Forgetting commission earners. Applying the 1/20 formula to a commission salesperson's four weeks can produce a much lower or higher number than the correct 1/60 of 12 weeks, depending on when deals closed.

Quebec holiday payroll checklist

0/8

• Confirm whether the business is provincially or federally regulated
• Decide and communicate whether Good Friday or Easter Monday is the paid holiday
• For each holiday, total the last four complete pay weeks (12 for commission earners), excluding overtime
• Include declared and attributed tips
• Pay the indemnity to every eligible employee, scheduled or not
• For holiday work, pay hours worked plus the indemnity or schedule a compensatory day in the allowed window
• For 24 June, check the Sunday rule and use the adjacent working day for any compensatory day
• Record the reason for any absence before withholding an indemnity

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What to do next

Put the 2026 and 2027 dates in your payroll calendar now, decide your Good Friday or Easter Monday policy, and check that your payroll system calculates the indemnity on four complete weeks including tips. If you employ staff in more than one province, compare these rules with Ontario's public holidays, B.C.'s statutory holidays and Alberta's general holidays, because each uses a different formula. Use our salary slip generator to show the indemnity as a separate line, and check rates against the current minimum wage.

Official links

• CNESST — statutory holidaysList, indemnity and worked-holiday rules
• LégisQuébec — Act respecting labour standards (N-1.1)Sections 60 to 66
• LégisQuébec — National Holiday Act (F-1.1)24 June rules
• Federal — vacations and general holidaysBanks, airlines and other federal employers

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

How many statutory holidays are there in Quebec?

Quebec has 8 paid statutory holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday or Easter Monday (the employer chooses), National Patriots' Day, the Fête nationale on 24 June, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Seven come from the Act respecting labour standards and the Fête nationale comes from its own law, the National Holiday Act.

How is statutory holiday pay calculated in Quebec?

The holiday indemnity is 1/20 of the wages the employee earned in the four complete weeks of pay before the week of the holiday, not counting overtime. Employees paid wholly or partly by commission get 1/60 of wages earned in the 12 complete weeks of pay before the holiday week. Declared or attributed tips are included.

What do I get if I work on a statutory holiday in Quebec?

Quebec has no time-and-a-half rule for holidays. If you work, you are paid your regular wages for the hours worked and, at the employer's choice, either the holiday indemnity on top or a paid compensatory day off. For most holidays the day off must be taken within 3 weeks before or after the holiday; for 24 June it must be the working day just before or after.

Is Boxing Day a statutory holiday in Quebec?

No. Boxing Day, Remembrance Day, Family Day, the civic holiday in August and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are not statutory holidays under Quebec law. Some employers give them by contract or collective agreement, and federally regulated employers in Quebec, such as banks and airlines, follow the Canada Labour Code's list of 10 general holidays instead.

Who qualifies for the Fête nationale holiday?

Any employee who is employed on 24 June qualifies, whether full-time, part-time, temporary or on call. Unlike the other holidays, an absence on the working day before or after doesn't remove the right. If 24 June falls on a Sunday, employees who don't normally work Sundays get 25 June off instead.

Can an employer refuse holiday pay in Quebec?

For the seven holidays under the Act respecting labour standards, an employer can withhold the indemnity only if the employee was absent on the working day before or the working day after the holiday without the employer's authorization or a valid reason. Being part-time, new or on a short contract isn't a reason to refuse it.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 13 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Statutory holidays (CNESST) — CNESST (Government of Quebec) · accessed 13 October 2026
2. 2.Act to amend the Act respecting labour standards (2018, c. 21) — Gazette officielle du Québec, 1 August 2018 — Publications du Québec · accessed 13 October 2026
3. 3.Annual vacations and general holidays (federally regulated employers) — Employment and Social Development Canada · accessed 13 October 2026
4. 4.What do employers need to know about Québec's National Holiday? — Payworks · accessed 13 October 2026
5. 5.Public Holidays in Quebec 2026: Dates, List & Pay Rules — Agendrix · accessed 13 October 2026
6. 6.CNESST guide: leave and statutory holidays — Immigrant Québec (reproducing CNESST guidance) · accessed 13 October 2026
7. 7.Act respecting labour standards, CQLR c. N-1.1 (sections 60–66) — LégisQuébec · accessed 13 October 2026
8. 8.La fête nationale et la fête du Canada restent fériées, même le dimanche! — Gouvernement du Québec (CNESST news release, 18 June 2018) · accessed 13 October 2026