Long weekends and statutory holidays in Ontario 2026 and 2027
More holiday, fewer leave days.
Every statutory holiday in Ontario, the long weekends they make, and the vacation hacks that stretch them into a proper break.
How many days of vacation do you have?
Type a number. The plan below lists the days to book in Ontario 2026.
Long weekends in Ontario 2026
Three or more days off in a row with no vacation needed.
Best times to book vacation
Breaks of a week or more, in date order. The badge ranks them by days off per vacation day. Book the highlighted days.
Statutory holidays in Ontario 2026 and 2027
Greyed rows are part-day, regional or restricted days: shown for completeness, left out of the maths.
2026 Provisional
Ontario's guide lists its nine public holidays by name only. The page lists the holidays by name without 2026 dates. Movable dates are taken from the Government of Canada 2026 public holidays list (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/public-holidays.html, fetched today: Good Friday 3 April, Easter Monday 6 April, Victoria Day 18 May, Civic Holiday 3 August, Labour Day 7 September, Thanksgiving 12 October) and, for the third Monday in February (16 February), from the B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba 2026 tables. Marked provisional only because the province itself publishes no dated list. Statute read: Employment Standards Act, 2000, s. 1 definition of 'public holiday' (https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41, fetched today with a browser), which fixes Family Day as the third Monday in February and Boxing Day as December 26. Entries flagged 'restricted' are days this jurisdiction's page does not grant; they come from the Canada Labour Code definition of 'general holiday' (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-166.html, fetched today).
| Date | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Jan | New Year's Day | |
| Mon 16 Feb | Family Day | |
| Fri 3 Apr | Good Friday | |
| Mon 18 May | Victoria Day | |
| Wed 1 Jul | Canada Day | |
| Mon 7 Sep | Labour Day | |
| Wed 30 Sep | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Federally regulated employees | Not a statutory holiday under this province's or territory's employment standards law. It is a general holiday under the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated workplaces. |
| Mon 12 Oct | Thanksgiving Day | |
| Wed 11 Nov | Remembrance Day Federally regulated employees | Not a statutory holiday under this province's or territory's employment standards law. It is a general holiday under the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated workplaces. Ontario's guide says employers are not required to give Remembrance Day as a holiday under the Employment Standards Act. |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day | |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day | Falls on a Saturday in 2026. Ontario publishes no substitute date; an employee whose public holiday falls on a non-working day is entitled to a substitute holiday or, by written agreement, public holiday pay. |
2027 Provisional
no Government of Canada dated 2027 list was found; federal-only 2027 dates are fixed dates (September 30, November 11, December 26) or match the provincial 2027 tables (Victoria Day 24 May, Thanksgiving 11 October).
| Date | Holiday | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 1 Jan | New Year's Day | |
| Mon 15 Feb | Family Day | |
| Fri 26 Mar | Good Friday | |
| Mon 24 May | Victoria Day | |
| Thu 1 Jul | Canada Day | |
| Mon 6 Sep | Labour Day | |
| Thu 30 Sep | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Federally regulated employees | Not a statutory holiday under this province's or territory's employment standards law. It is a general holiday under the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated workplaces. |
| Mon 11 Oct | Thanksgiving Day | |
| Thu 11 Nov | Remembrance Day Federally regulated employees | Not a statutory holiday under this province's or territory's employment standards law. It is a general holiday under the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated workplaces. Ontario's guide says employers are not required to give Remembrance Day as a holiday under the Employment Standards Act. |
| Sat 25 Dec | Christmas Day | Falls on a Saturday in 2027. Ontario publishes no substitute date; an employee whose public holiday falls on a non-working day is entitled to a substitute holiday or, by written agreement, public holiday pay. |
| Sun 26 Dec | Boxing Day | Falls on a Sunday in 2027. Ontario publishes no substitute date; an employee whose public holiday falls on a non-working day is entitled to a substitute holiday or, by written agreement, public holiday pay. |
Sources
- 2026: https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/public-holidays — checked 2026-11-14. Fetched directly. GAP: Ontario's guide lists its nine public holidays by name only. The page lists the holidays by name without 2026 dates. Movable dates are taken from the Government of Canada 2026 public holidays list (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/public-holidays.html, fetched today: Good Friday 3 April, Easter Monday 6 April, Victoria Day 18 May, Civic Holiday 3 August, Labour Day 7 September, Thanksgiving 12 October) and, for the third Monday in February (16 February), from the B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba 2026 tables. Marked provisional only because the province itself publishes no dated list. Statute read: Employment Standards Act, 2000, s. 1 definition of 'public holiday' (https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41, fetched today with a browser), which fixes Family Day as the third Monday in February and Boxing Day as December 26. Entries flagged 'restricted' are days this jurisdiction's page does not grant; they come from the Canada Labour Code definition of 'general holiday' (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-166.html, fetched today).
- 2027: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41 — checked 2026-11-14. GAP: no dated Ontario list. The province or territory has not published a dated 2027 list. Dates are provisional: each holiday in its official list is dated by its statutory rule, and every resulting calendar date matches the date published for the same day in the official 2027 tables of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick and the Government of Nunavut fetched today (Good Friday 26 March, Victoria Day 24 May, first Monday in August 2 August, Labour Day 6 September, Thanksgiving 11 October, third Monday in February 15 February). Statute read: Employment Standards Act, 2000, s. 1 definition of 'public holiday'. Entries flagged 'restricted' are days this jurisdiction's page does not grant; they come from the Canada Labour Code definition of 'general holiday' (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-166.html, fetched today).
- 2026: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/public-holidays.html — checked 2026-11-14. Government of Canada 'Public holidays for 2026' list, fetched today with a browser (page dated 2026-01-06). Used to date movable holidays for provinces that list holidays by name only. It shows 2026 only.
- 2027: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/section-166.html — checked 2026-11-14. Canada Labour Code s. 166 definition of 'general holiday', fetched directly. Used to decide which days are added with the 'Federally regulated employees' restriction. GAP: no Government of Canada dated 2027 list was found; federal-only 2027 dates are fixed dates (September 30, November 11, December 26) or match the provincial 2027 tables (Victoria Day 24 May, Thanksgiving 11 October).
What's different in Ontario
Ontario has nine public holidays and is the only province in this list where Boxing Day is one of them. Remembrance Day, the first Monday in August and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are not public holidays under the Employment Standards Act. Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, and Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2027 fall on Saturday and Sunday, so most weekday workers are owed substitute days off. Take December 28 to 31, 2026 for at least ten days off, from Friday, December 25 to Sunday, January 3. Canada Day 2027 is a Thursday: book Friday, July 2.
How the hacks are worked out
We take every statutory holiday for your province, add the weekends, and look for stretches where a few days of vacation bridge the gaps. A hack is any run of seven or more days off that you can unlock when you book one to nine days, measured from the first day you would be off to the last. They are ranked by days off per vacation day, so a ten-day break for three days (3.3×) beats a nine-day break for four (2.3×). The budget planner picks the best non-overlapping hacks that fit the vacation you have, then spends any days left over on short bridges such as a single day that turns a Thursday holiday into a four-day weekend.
Only statutory holidays from each province's and territory's own employment standards pages are counted; local, company and optional days are not. Part-day, regional and restricted days are shown in the tables but left out of the maths. Hacks assume you work Monday to Friday.