Do federal holidays apply to me?

Probably not, but it depends on your job. Most Canadian workers get provincial holidays off, not federal ones.

Who’s federally regulated?

All jobs in Canada are regulated by a provincial government or the federal government. If your job is regulated by the federal government, you get federal holidays instead of the provincial holidays.

Approximately 6% of Canadians work in federally regulated industries. Some examples are:

• banks
• airlines
• post offices
• the federal civil service

You can check with the Government of Canada for the full list.

What’s the difference?

Sometimes, provincial holidays are the same as federal holidays — like Christmas, or New Year’s — but not always.

For example, the province of Ontario doesn’t observe Remembrance Day, which means

• on November 11, post offices are closed but schools are open

However, Ontario observes Family Day but the federal government doesn’t. So that means

• on the third Monday in February, schools are closed but post offices will be open

How can I tell which holidays apply to me?

Most likely you get provincial holidays, but if you’re not sure, you can ask someone you work with or check out the list of federally regulated industries.