Vacation pay is a percentage of a year's wages: 4% or 6% in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, 3/52 or 4/52 in Saskatchewan, and 4%, 6% or 8% under the Canada Labour Code. What counts as wages differs, and it moves one worker's 6% payout between $3,258 and $3,558.
Take Sam, an invented employee whose year contains five kinds of pay: hours worked, overtime, paid holidays, commission and a vacation-pay cheque from last year's entitlement. Ontario leaves one of those out of the base (the vacation cheque), Alberta leaves out two (overtime and holiday pay), Manitoba leaves out two (overtime and the vacation cheque), and British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the federal Code leave out none. The rule sets covered here are Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the federal Canada Labour Code. New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the three territories are not in the tables.
CalculatorVillage has no vacation-pay calculator, so the tables on this page are the tool. The arithmetic is short: add up the pay types your province counts, then multiply by the rate for your years of service. The salary calculator turns an hourly rate or a salary into the annual figure that starts the sum, and the salary to hourly overtime calculator prices overtime hours, which matter here because five of the seven rule sets count them and two do not.
One worker's year, in five kinds of pay
Each line below is treated differently by at least one of the rule sets.
| Kind of pay | How it arises | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Pay for hours worked | 2,000 hours at $25 | $50,000 |
| Overtime pay | 80 hours at $37.50, which is 1.5 times $25 | $3,000 |
| Pay for nine paid holidays | 9 days x 8 hours x $25, on days Sam did not work | $1,800 |
| Sales commission | Earned on completed sales | $2,500 |
| Vacation pay received this year | Lump sum for the previous year's vacation | $2,000 |
| All pay in the year | $59,300 |
Tips and discretionary bonuses are not in Sam's year. The government pages treat them unevenly, and some say nothing about them, so they appear in the comparison of what counts and not in the dollar results. The count of nine holidays is held constant in every row so the comparison tests pay rules and not provincial calendars.
The rates and thresholds in seven rule sets
The headline numbers look similar until you read the step dates. Quebec moves to 6% two years earlier than Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba do. Saskatchewan does not use 4% or 6% at all, and the federal Code has a third step at ten years.
| Rule set | Vacation time | Vacation pay on wages | When the higher step starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 2 weeks; 3 weeks from 5 years | 4%; 6% | Five years of employment at the end of the vacation entitlement year. Reaching five years part-way through the year puts the whole year at 6% |
| British Columbia | 2 weeks after 12 months; 3 weeks after 5 years | At least 4% after 5 calendar days of employment; at least 6% after 5 consecutive years | Five consecutive years of employment |
| Alberta | 2 weeks; 3 weeks after 5 consecutive years | 4% of wages; 6% from 5 years | Five years of employment (the page words the weeks threshold as "more than 5 years" and the rate threshold as "5 years or more") |
| Manitoba | 2 weeks in each of the first four years; 3 weeks after the fifth | 4%; 6% | On completing the fifth year. The fifth year itself is paid at 4% and topped up by 2% on completion |
| Saskatchewan | 3 weeks; 4 weeks after 10 years with the same employer | 3/52 (5.77%); 4/52 (7.69%) | Ten years with the same employer |
| Quebec | 1 day per full month under a year (maximum 2 weeks); 2 weeks from 1 year; 3 weeks from 3 years | 4%; 6% | Three years of uninterrupted service at the end of the reference year |
| Federal (Canada Labour Code) | 2 weeks after 1 year; 3 weeks after 5 consecutive years; 4 weeks after 10 | 4%; 6%; 8% | Five and ten consecutive years with the same employer |
The percentages track the weeks. A year has 52 weeks, so two weeks of pay is 2/52, or 3.85%, and 4% sits a little above it. Three weeks is 3/52, or 5.77%, and 6% sits a little above that. Saskatchewan states the fractions themselves, and its Employment Standards pages give 5.77% and 7.69% as the per-cent equivalents. Expressed back as weeks of a steady full year of pay, each rate looks like this:
| Rate | Weeks of a steady 52-week year's pay |
|---|---|
| 4% | 2.08 |
| 6% | 3.12 |
| 8% | 4.16 |
| 3/52 | 3.00 |
| 4/52 | 4.00 |
For a worker paid a steady $50,000 for hours worked, two weeks of pay is $1,923.08 and 4% of the year is $2,000. A flat 4% is therefore a little more than two weeks of that pay. It grows when overtime, commission and holiday pay are in the base, and it shrinks when a leave empties the base, which is where the question of what counts becomes money.
A contract can beat these minimums. Ontario's guide gives four weeks of vacation with eight per cent vacation pay as a contract example, and British Columbia's interpretation guideline says the Director will enforce a contract entitlement above the Act's 4% or 6% because the Act says "at least". The figures in this guide are the legal minimums.
What counts as wages, rule set by rule set
"Yes" in the comparison means the passage quoted or summarized further down includes the item in the base for vacation pay, or, for Alberta's commission, covers it by general wording, and for the federal rows follows section 166 of the Code, whose definition covers "every form of remuneration for work performed", together with sections 186 and 200 and the Labour Program's guideline IPG-012. "No" means the passage excludes it. "Not stated" means the passage neither includes nor excludes it.
| Item in the base | ON | BC | AB | MB | SK | QC | Fed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay for hours worked, salary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Overtime pay | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public or general holiday pay | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commission | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Earned or hours-linked bonus | Yes | Yes | Yes (only an unearned bonus is out) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Discretionary or unearned bonus, gift | No | No | No (unearned) | Not stated | Not stated | Christmas-period gift generally no | Not stated |
| Tips | No | No | No | Not stated | Not stated | Yes (reported and attributed) | No |
| Vacation pay already paid | No | Yes | Yes (unless paid frequently) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pay in lieu of notice, termination pay | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Not stated | No |
Of the seven rule sets, five count overtime pay and two do not: Alberta and Manitoba. Public or general holiday pay is counted in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec and, under section 200 of the Code, the federal rules, and is left out in Alberta alone. Vacation pay already paid is out of the base in Ontario and Manitoba and in the base in the other five.
Ontario
The Employment Standards Act guide (updated February 5, 2026) sets a 12-month vacation entitlement year and then lists the base in two blocks. The first, "The gross wages on which vacation pay is calculated include", names regular earnings including commissions, bonuses and gifts that are non-discretionary or related to hours of work, overtime pay, public holiday pay, termination pay, allowances for room and board, and domestic or sexual violence leave pay. The second, "But do not include", names "vacation pay paid out or earned but not yet paid", tips and other gratuities, discretionary bonuses and gifts unrelated to hours of work, production or efficiency, expenses and travel allowances, living allowances, employer benefit-plan contributions and payments from a plan, federal employment insurance benefits, and severance pay.
Two lines in that list deserve attention. The first is termination pay, which is in the base while severance pay is out; the guide repeats the point in its termination section: "Vacation pay is payable on termination pay but not on severance pay." The second is the exclusion of vacation pay itself. Ontario's rule is stated as a percentage of "the gross wages (excluding any vacation pay)", so a vacation-pay cheque never feeds the next year's vacation pay. The Ontario public holiday pay guide shows the reverse link: there, vacation pay payable is added into the numerator of the holiday formula.
British Columbia
The Employment Standards Act, section 58(1), sets the amount: "at least 4% of the employee's total wages during the year of employment entitling the employee to the vacation pay" after 5 calendar days of employment, and at least 6% after 5 consecutive years. The Act's definition of wages (section 1, bclaws.gov.bc.ca, current to October 27, 2026) is broad and then lists exclusions: "but does not include (f) gratuities, (g) money that is paid at the discretion of the employer and is not related to hours of work, production or efficiency, (h) allowances or expenses, (i) penalties, and (j) an administrative fee imposed under section 30.1". The ministry's interpretation guideline for section 58 (last updated February 25, 2022) then names what is in:
The guideline says the wages used for calculating vacation pay are all money paid by an employer that meets the definition of "wages" in section 1 of the Act. It then names what is included:
This also includes overtime, statutory holiday pay, sick pay required by this Act, bonuses that meet the definition of "wages" and previously paid vacation pay.
Total wages, it adds, also include compensation for length of service under section 63 and termination pay under section 64.
The ministry's shorter vacation page (last updated January 31, 2024) gives a shorter list that does not name overtime: regular wages, salary and commissions, statutory holiday pay, paid sick days required by Employment Standards and previously paid vacation pay, with "Any vacation pay received by an employee becomes part of the total wages paid in that year." The guideline is the more detailed document, and the table follows it.
Alberta
Alberta's vacation pay page defines its base mainly by subtraction, and it begins with a rule that is easy to miss: the calculation should also include the previous year's vacation pay, unless the employer pays vacation pay frequently, such as on every pay period or quarterly, in which case it need not calculate vacation pay on the previously paid vacation pay. The base is then defined by what it leaves out:
For the purpose of calculating vacation pay, the definition of wages doesn't include: overtime pay; general holiday pay; termination pay; an unearned bonus; tips and gratuities, or expenses and allowances.
Commission is not on that list, and the page's table of percentages applies to employees "paid hourly, weekly, or by commission or other incentive pay", so commission is in. The page says "unearned bonus" where Ontario and British Columbia say "discretionary". Those are not the same test, and the table keeps the two labels apart.
Manitoba
Manitoba's fact sheet (published September 16, 2026) puts holiday pay in and overtime out. Gross wages, it says, include all regular wages and any general holiday pay, and regular wages cover commission, salary, hourly pay, productivity bonuses and other pay for the regular hours of work. The exclusion is one sentence:
Overtime wages, wages in lieu of notice, and the previous year's vacation wages are not included in the calculation.
Manitoba is the only one of the seven that leaves out overtime and vacation pay already paid while counting holiday pay. Its base is also computed on the previous year: the fact sheet says "Vacation pay is calculated based on the gross earnings in the previous year."
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan's pages describe the base in affirmative terms. Its vacation pay page says vacation pay is calculated on wages for a year of employment or a portion of a year and is payable on "all salary, commission, earned bonuses and other monetary compensation for work or services", which includes overtime, public holiday pay and vacation pay. The vacation pay calculator page repeats the list and adds annual holiday pay. On pay instead of notice, the page on paying vacation at the end of employment says: "Vacation pay does not have to be paid on the amount of pay instead of notice."
Quebec
Quebec's Act respecting labour standards sets the indemnity at 4% or 6% "of the gross wages of the employee during the reference year" (section 74), and the CNESST interpretation guide says that "gross wages" means taking into account the wages and the various indemnities received during the preceding reference year: statutory holidays, annual leave, miscellaneous leaves, overtime, bonuses, commissions and "reported and attributed tips".
Quebec is the only one of the seven whose passage counts tips, and its list names annual leave as well, so the vacation indemnity received in the year is part of the base. Section 1 defines wages as "a remuneration in currency and benefits having a pecuniary value due for the work or services performed by an employee", and the guide adds that a Christmas-period bonus "generally represents a present" and so is not part of wages, unlike money paid in relation to productivity or performance at work.
Federal employers
The Canada Labour Code (current to October 19, 2026) defines wages in section 166: "wages includes every form of remuneration for work performed but does not include tips and other gratuities". Section 184.01 sets the rates in full:
An employee is entitled to vacation pay equal to: (a) 4% of their wages during the year of employment in respect of which they are entitled to the vacation; (b) 6% of their wages during the year of employment in respect of which they are entitled to the vacation, if they have completed at least five consecutive years of employment with the same employer; and (c) 8% of their wages during the year of employment in respect of which they are entitled to the vacation, if they have completed at least 10 consecutive years of employment with the same employer.
Section 186 closes the loop on prior vacation pay: "Vacation pay shall for all purposes be deemed to be wages." The definition names tips as excluded. Section 200 adds that "Holiday pay granted to an employee is for all purposes deemed to be wages." The Labour Program's interpretation guideline IPG-012, Vacation pay (revised June 22, 2023), says which payments count as wages for vacation pay: regular earnings, overtime pay, pay for general holidays, commission, production bonuses and vacation pay itself are in, while tips and gratuities, monies owed upon termination, pay in lieu of notice of termination and severance pay are out. The table follows section 200 and IPG-012 for those rows, so Sam's federal base below includes the holiday pay.
Sam's vacation pay in each rule set
The first table gives the base, which is the sum of the pay types each rule set counts. The second gives the payout at four lengths of completed service, rounded to the cent.
| Rule set | Pay types counted | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Hours worked, overtime, holiday pay, commission | $57,300 |
| British Columbia | All five | $59,300 |
| Alberta | Hours worked, commission, vacation pay paid in the year | $54,500 |
| Manitoba | Hours worked, holiday pay, commission | $54,300 |
| Saskatchewan | All five | $59,300 |
| Quebec | All five | $59,300 |
| Federal | All five | $59,300 |
| Rule set | Base | 2 years | 4 years | 6 years | 11 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | $57,300 | 4%: $2,292 | 4%: $2,292 | 6%: $3,438 | 6%: $3,438 |
| British Columbia | $59,300 | 4%: $2,372 | 4%: $2,372 | 6%: $3,558 | 6%: $3,558 |
| Alberta | $54,500 | 4%: $2,180 | 4%: $2,180 | 6%: $3,270 | 6%: $3,270 |
| Manitoba | $54,300 | 4%: $2,172 | 4%: $2,172 | 6%: $3,258 | 6%: $3,258 |
| Saskatchewan | $59,300 | 3/52 (5.77%): $3,421.15 | 3/52 (5.77%): $3,421.15 | 3/52 (5.77%): $3,421.15 | 4/52 (7.69%): $4,561.54 |
| Quebec | $59,300 | 4%: $2,372 | 6%: $3,558 | 6%: $3,558 | 6%: $3,558 |
| Federal (Canada Labour Code) | $59,300 | 4%: $2,372 | 4%: $2,372 | 6%: $3,558 | 8%: $4,744 |
The federal row counts the $1,800 of holiday pay because section 200 of the Code deems holiday pay to be wages and IPG-012 lists pay for general holidays among the wages for vacation pay. The section 166 definition of wages does not name holiday pay, but section 200 does the work.
The table shows four effects, each traceable to a single rule.
At two years, Saskatchewan pays most and Manitoba least. Saskatchewan pays $3,421.15 against Manitoba's $2,172, a gap of $1,249.15. Of the gap, $960.69 comes from the rate, because Saskatchewan gives three weeks from the first year and pays 3/52 where Manitoba pays 4%. The other $288.46 comes from the base, because Manitoba leaves out Sam's overtime and prior vacation pay.
At four years, Quebec jumps ahead. Quebec's 6% starts at three years, so Sam's $3,558 is the highest figure in that column, $1,186 above British Columbia's $2,372 on an identical base. Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba stay at 4% until the fifth year.
At six years, the rates agree and the bases do not. Six of the seven rule sets are at 6%, Saskatchewan's 3/52 being the exception, and the payouts run from $3,258 in Manitoba to $3,558 in British Columbia, Quebec and under the federal Code, a spread of $300 on the same year of work. All of that spread is Manitoba's omissions: $180 is the overtime and $120 is the vacation cheque it leaves out. Alberta's $3,270 sits $288 below British Columbia's, which is $180 of overtime plus $108 of holiday pay.
At eleven years, the ten-year steps pull away. The federal Code's 8% gives $4,744 and Saskatchewan's 4/52 gives $4,561.54, against $3,558 in British Columbia and Quebec. Both are at least $1,003.54 above every 6% rule set, because both add a step at ten years that the five 6% rule sets do not have.
These are payouts for one invented year. A real worker's year changes the base, and the table's job is to show which pay types will matter. If your year has no overtime, no holiday pay on days off and no vacation cheque, the bases converge and the rates decide the answer.
What a thousand dollars of each kind of pay adds
Another way to read the same rules is to hold the rate fixed and ask what an extra $1,000 of each pay type adds to vacation pay. The table uses the lower rate: 4% everywhere except Saskatchewan, where 3/52 applies. At the higher rates the amounts scale up by half for the 6% sets.
| Rule set | Overtime | Holiday pay | Commission | Vacation pay already paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | $40 | $40 | $40 | $0 |
| British Columbia | $40 | $40 | $40 | $40 |
| Alberta | $0 | $0 | $40 | $40 |
| Manitoba | $0 | $40 | $40 | $0 |
| Saskatchewan | $57.69 | $57.69 | $57.69 | $57.69 |
| Quebec | $40 | $40 | $40 | $40 |
| Federal (Canada Labour Code) | $40 | $40 | $40 | $40 |
An employee who works regular overtime in Alberta or Manitoba is therefore paid vacation pay on a smaller share of annual earnings than the same employee in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan or Quebec. Sam's overtime is 5.1% of the year's pay, so omitting it takes that share out of the base. A worker with little overtime sees almost no difference in the first column, and the differences then come from holiday pay, which Alberta alone drops, and from the vacation cheque, which Ontario and Manitoba drop. The overtime guide shows how many overtime hours the same schedule produces in each jurisdiction, and those hours are what the first column of this table prices.
Reaching the higher rate part-way through a year
A worker paid vacation pay on each cheque gets 4% on every pay day until the service threshold arrives, and then the employer owes a catch-up. Three of the sources spell out the catch-up, and they do not align.
Ontario. The guide's example has an employee whose vacation entitlement year is January 1 to December 31 and who reaches five years on July 1. The employer must "top-up" the 4% paid on wages from January 1 to June 30 with an additional 2%, due on the pay day for the pay period in which July 1 falls, and pays 6% on each pay day afterward. For Sam's Ontario wages of $57,300, half earned before July 1, the top-up is 2% of $28,650, or $573.
British Columbia. The interpretation guideline's example has an employee paid 4% on every cheque who then receives 6% on each cheque and "a one-time 2% vacation pay adjustment based on total gross earnings during the fifth year of employment", payable on the first payday after the fifth anniversary. On Sam's British Columbia base of $59,300 the adjustment is $1,186.
Manitoba. The fact sheet's example: an employee earned $40,000 in 2019, was paid $40,000 x 4% = $1,600, then completed five years in January 2020; the employer must pay the additional 2%, $40,000 x 2% = $800. On Sam's Manitoba base of $54,300 the same rule gives $1,086.
| Rule set | What the 2% is applied to | Sam's catch-up |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Wages earned before the date the threshold is reached, within the vacation entitlement year | $573 |
| British Columbia | Total gross earnings in the fifth year of employment | $1,186 |
| Manitoba | The earnings of the year completed when the fifth year ends | $1,086 |
The three figures are not comparable as a ranking, because the wage windows are different. Ontario's covers only the part of the year before the anniversary, while British Columbia and Manitoba apply the extra 2% to a whole year. The practical point is that a worker who is paid vacation pay on every cheque and passes year five should see a one-time extra line on the stub, and a worker who does not see one has a question to put to payroll.
Pay in lieu of notice and the final vacation cheque
In the sources checked, the vacation pay owed when a job ends has two parts: any entitlement from completed years that was never paid, and a share of the wages earned in the current, unfinished year. The part that differs between provinces is whether a lump sum paid in place of notice carries vacation pay of its own. Take $10,000 of pay in lieu of notice on top of Sam's year, at the 4% rate.
| Rule set | Does pay in lieu of notice attract vacation pay? | Vacation pay on $10,000 | When final vacation pay is due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Yes: termination pay is in the base; severance pay is not | $400 | Within seven days of the end of employment or the next regular pay day, whichever is later |
| British Columbia | Yes: section 63 length-of-service compensation and section 64 termination pay are in total wages | $400 | Section 18: within 48 hours after the employer ends the employment; within 6 days after the employee ends it |
| Alberta | No: termination pay is excluded | $0 | Within 10 consecutive days after the end of the pay period in which termination occurred, or 31 consecutive days after the last day of employment; the employer may choose |
| Manitoba | No: wages in lieu of notice are excluded | $0 | Within 10 working days from the last day worked |
| Saskatchewan | No: vacation pay does not have to be paid on pay instead of notice | $0 | Unpaid vacation pay within 14 days of termination |
| Quebec | Not stated in the passages cited | Not computed | Section 76 sets the amount (see below); the deadline is not in the vacation pages cited |
| Federal | No: IPG-012 lists monies owed upon termination and pay in lieu of notice of termination as not wages | $0 | Within 30 days after the day employment ends (section 188) |
On a $10,000 payment the difference between Ontario or British Columbia and Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or the federal rules is $400. The severance pay guide covers how termination pay, severance pay and vacation pay are separate lines on a package, and a line-by-line split of the offer is how an employee can see whether the vacation share is there at all.
Saskatchewan adds a related point on working notice: employees keep their vacation entitlements during it, and employers cannot require them to take vacation or pay vacation pay during notice periods. Alberta's page says employers cannot require employees to use vacation entitlements during the notice period unless both parties agree, and Manitoba's fact sheet says employers cannot use vacation as the notice period when terminating employment.
Quebec's termination formula
Section 76 of the Act gives a termination rule that differs in structure. The employee receives the indemnity for the unused part of the leave, plus 4% or 6% of the gross wages earned in the current reference year, and the CNESST guide's own example shows that the current-year base includes the indemnity just computed. The guide's figures: gross wages in the previous reference year $30,000, so the leave indemnity at 6% is $1,800. Gross wages so far in the current year are $8,200. Adding the $1,800 gives $10,000, and 6% of that is $600. The total is $1,800 + $600 = $2,400. A simple 6% of the current year's $8,200 would have given $492, so counting the previous indemnity as wages adds $108.
When Sam is off work for part of the year
Time away from work changes vacation pay through the base, and in one rule set through a replacement formula.
Ontario's guide says that time on leave counts toward the vacation entitlement year, so an employee on leave for part of the year earns the full two weeks of vacation time, but the vacation pay earned would be "a minimum of four per cent or six per cent" of the wages actually earned during the year. British Columbia's guideline works a maternity example: an employee who works three months and then takes leave gets 4% of three months' wages, which is less than if the employee had worked the full year, while the vacation time is unaffected. Manitoba's fact sheet is to the same effect: leave counts toward years of service, and the vacation pay earned will be lower if the employee was not earning wages while on the leave. Alberta bases vacation pay on "wages paid for work" and lets the vacation period be reduced in proportion to the days an employee was or would normally have been scheduled to work but did not.
Quebec handles its listed absences differently from the Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba pages, with a replacement formula. The vacation indemnity "continues to accumulate" during maternity leave of 18 weeks or less, paternity leave of 5 weeks or less, and an absence from sickness or accident of 26 weeks or less (the page also lists absences related to organ or tissue donation and to domestic or sexual abuse). The indemnity in those cases is the average weekly wage earned during the period of work, multiplied by the number of vacation weeks, and it cannot exceed what the employee would have received had there been no absence.
The CNESST example is a worker with 2.5 years of service who works 26 weeks at $600 and is off sick for 26 weeks: 26 weeks x $600 = $15,600 earned, divided by 26 weeks is $600 a week, times 2 weeks gives $1,200. Four per cent of the $15,600 actually earned would have been $624. Applied to Sam, who earns $29,650 in 26 weeks and is then off sick for 26 weeks, the Quebec formula gives an average weekly wage of $1,140.38 and two weeks of it, $2,280.76, against $1,186 under a plain 4%-of-wages-earned rule. The Quebec figure is below the $2,372 that Sam would have received with no absence, so the cap does not bind. The page's second example, a worker with 8 years of service, $800 a week, 24 weeks worked and 18 weeks of maternity leave, is $800 x 3 x 42 / 52 = $1,938.46; the parental leave weeks are left out because the indemnity does not accumulate during them.
The CNESST guide for section 74 adds that this method applies only to the listed absences. An employee absent after a layoff, for example, has the indemnity calculated "in proportion to the length of time at work".
A holiday in the middle of the vacation
Holiday pay is part of the base in most of these rule sets, so the way a holiday inside a vacation is handled matters too. Six of the sources state it directly:
- Ontario: the day stays a vacation day, and a qualifying employee gets a substitute day off with public holiday pay (taken within three months, or twelve if agreed electronically or in writing) or the public holiday pay alone if the employee agrees electronically or in writing.
- British Columbia: the annual vacation is "exclusive of statutory holidays that an employee is entitled to" (section 57(4)), and the ministry says an employee on a scheduled vacation day "may qualify for statutory holiday pay. They do not get an additional day off."
- Alberta: a qualifying employee takes off either the first scheduled working day after the vacation or, by agreement, another day that would otherwise have been a work day before the next annual vacation.
- Manitoba: "General holidays are not counted as a vacation day." The employee receives another day of vacation and general holiday wages for the day.
- Saskatchewan: the vacation is extended by one day, even if the holiday falls on the employee's day off, and most employees also get public holiday pay for the holiday.
- Federal: under section 187 the vacation "may be extended by one day for each such holiday, and the employer shall pay to the employee in addition to the vacation pay the wages to which the employee is entitled for those general holidays."
Manitoba gives another day of vacation and general holiday wages for the day. Saskatchewan extends the vacation by a day and says most employees also get public holiday pay. The federal Code allows the vacation to be extended by a day and requires the holiday wages on top of vacation pay. Where the day is added, the holiday does not shorten the vacation. Alberta's page leaves holiday pay out of the vacation-pay base, which means that the holiday pay paid during a vacation does not raise next year's Alberta vacation pay.
Lump sum or on every cheque
The pages set a default of paying vacation pay before the vacation, with an exception for pay received as the wages are earned. The details differ.
| Rule set | During employment |
|---|---|
| Ontario | Normally a lump sum before the vacation. Exceptions: vacation shorter than one week (on or before the pay day for the period it falls in); each pay cheque, if the employee agrees electronically or in writing and the amount is shown separately; any time the employee agrees; direct deposit (on or before the pay day for the period) |
| British Columbia | At least 7 days before the vacation begins; on scheduled paydays if agreed in writing or provided by a collective agreement. Commissions paid during a vacation are not vacation pay; a salary continued during a vacation counts as vacation pay and must equal at least 4% or 6% of gross earnings |
| Alberta | On each pay period or at least monthly, or at least one day before the vacation if the employee asks and it has not been paid; no later than the next regular pay day after the vacation begins. A statement of earnings including vacation pay is due at the end of each pay period |
| Manitoba | Employer decides, but no later than the last day of work before the vacation and within 10 months of earning it. Vacation pay may go on every cheque, in which case no additional pay is due during time off |
| Saskatchewan | At the employee's request before taking the vacation, or on a normal payday during it. If the vacation is not taken, within 11 months after the employee becomes entitled |
| Quebec | Lump sum before the leave begins or in the manner of regular wage payment (section 75). Seasonal or intermittent employers may add it to each pay |
| Federal | Section 185 requires payment at the time prescribed by the regulations, in proportion if the vacation is split |
The seasonal exception in Quebec and the per-cheque agreements in Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba have the same practical result: vacation pay arrives in small pieces with each cheque. Manitoba says directly that a worker paid this way receives no additional vacation pay while off, and Ontario requires the amount to be shown separately on the pay statement.
Who is outside the vacation rules, and what the tables leave out
The percentages assume a covered employee. Alberta lists exceptions by name: licensed or registered salespersons of real estate and securities, commission salespersons who solicit orders principally outside the employer's place of business (route salespersons are not exempt), extras in a film or video production, licensed insurance salespersons paid entirely by commission, and teachers. Quebec's section 77 exempts, among others, a student employed in a vacation camp or in a social or community non-profit organization, and a real estate agent entirely remunerated on commission. Ontario says some jobs are exempt from the vacation with pay provisions and points to its special rule tool. The Manitoba and Saskatchewan pages cited here state entitlements without an exemption list, so a worker in an unusual job should check the ministry's own page.
The tables are limited in other ways. They show minimums, and a union agreement or contract can pay more. They show one vacation pay base per year and do not model an alternative entitlement year with a stub period (Ontario) or a common anniversary date (Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba), both of which change which wages fall in which year. And they cover seven rule sets: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the Canada Labour Code. The rules in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have their own statutes and are not in the tables. Employment-standards pages change; the check date on each source below says when the wording was last confirmed, and the ministry's own page governs a real dispute.
Checking a stub against the tables
The check has five steps and no calculator is required.
- Find the employee's year. Ontario uses a vacation entitlement year, by default the 12 months from the date of hire. Quebec's reference year usually runs May 1 to April 30. British Columbia counts the year of employment, Saskatchewan the anniversary year, and the federal Code the year of employment.
- Add up the pay types in that year, using the salary calculator to annualize an hourly rate and the overtime calculator for overtime dollars.
- Keep the pay types your rule set counts in the comparison table and drop the rest. In Ontario, drop the vacation cheque. In Alberta, drop overtime and general holiday pay. In Manitoba, drop overtime and last year's vacation pay.
- Multiply by the rate for the years of service. A worker who crosses five years during the year should see the catch-up described above.
- Compare the result with the vacation pay that was paid. If the paid amount is lower and the gap equals the rate times a pay type that the table says counts, that is a question for payroll first and for the provincial standards office if payroll does not resolve it.
Once the gross vacation amount is known, the paycheque deductions guide shows what comes off a gross cheque, and the bonus tax guide covers how a lump sum is withheld. The paycheque and employment standards hub lists the other Canadian pay guides, and the salary to hourly guide turns a salary into the hourly rate that starts the overtime arithmetic.
Sources
Each page below was checked on November 3, 2026, and the dates shown are the dates the page itself gives.
- Ontario, Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: Vacation (entitlement years, 4% and 6%, what counts as wages, payment timing, termination; updated February 5, 2026): https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/vacation
- British Columbia, Annual vacation (vacation pay, total wages, termination; last updated January 31, 2024): https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards/time-off/vacation
- British Columbia, Interpretive guide to the Employment Standards Act and Regulation, Part 7 section 58 Vacation Pay (total wages, commission, salaries, leave, timing; last updated February 25, 2022): https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards/forms-resources/igm/esa-part-7-section-58
- British Columbia, Employment Standards Act, RSBC 1996, c. 113, sections 1, 18, 57 and 58 (BC Laws, current to October 27, 2026): https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/00_96113_01
- Alberta, Vacations and vacation pay (eligibility, wages for vacation pay, termination, payout timing): https://www.alberta.ca/vacation-pay
- Manitoba, Vacations and Vacation Pay fact sheet (rates, gross wages, timing, termination; published September 16, 2026): https://www.manitoba.ca/labour/standards/doc,vacations,factsheet.html
- Saskatchewan, Annual Vacation and Vacation Pay; Calculating and Paying Vacation Pay; Vacation Pay Calculator; Paying Vacation at the End of Employment: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/employment-standards/vacations-and-vacation-pay/annual-vacation-and-vacation-pay and https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/employment-standards/vacations-and-vacation-pay/annual-vacation-and-vacation-pay/calculating-and-paying-vacation-pay and https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/employment-standards/vacations-and-vacation-pay/vacation-pay-calculator and https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/employment-standards/vacations-and-vacation-pay/annual-vacation-and-vacation-pay/paying-vacation-at-the-end-of-employment
- Quebec, CNESST, Annual vacation (reference year, 4% and 6%, examples, absences, payment): https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/annual-vacation
- Quebec, CNESST, Interpretation guide to the Act respecting labour standards, sections 1, 74, 75, 76 and 77: https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/node/1147646/interpretation-guide/act-respecting-labour-standards/chapter-iv-larbour-standards-section-391-97/division-iv-annual-leave-pay-section-66-77
- Government of Canada, Canada Labour Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. L-2, sections 166 and 183 to 188 (current to October 19, 2026, last amended December 12, 2025): https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-23.html and https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-26.html
- Employment and Social Development Canada, Labour Program, Vacation pay - IPG-012 (what counts as wages for vacation pay under the Canada Labour Code; revised June 22, 2023): https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/laws-regulations/labour/interpretations-policies/vacation-pay.html
- Government of Canada, Canada Labour Code, section 200 (holiday pay deemed to be wages): https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-200.html
- Saskatchewan, Public Holidays During Vacation: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/employment-standards/vacations-and-vacation-pay/annual-vacation-and-vacation-pay/public-holidays-during-vacation