Ontario public holiday pay calculator
Enter your wages and vacation pay for the four work weeks before the holiday, and the hours you worked on it. You get your public holiday pay and both ways of being paid for working.
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Working with a different rate? Edit the rates this calculator uses
These are the figures we verified on 2026-10-23. Change them to work with a historic period, or with a new rate that has been announced but which we have not published yet.
How is public holiday pay calculated in Ontario?
Add the regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the work week with the holiday to the vacation pay payable on them, then divide by 20. Regular wages do not include overtime, vacation pay, public holiday pay or premium pay. If you work the holiday, you can be paid public holiday pay plus premium pay of 1½ times your regular rate, or regular wages for the hours worked plus a paid substitute day off.
Why we built this calculator
Public holiday pay is not a day's pay at your usual rate. It is an average of what you earned in the four work weeks before the holiday, plus the vacation pay payable on it, divided by 20. For someone who works the same hours every day, that equals a normal day. For someone whose hours vary, it can be quite different, which is why it is so often miscalculated.
This calculator applies the formula as Ontario publishes it and compares the two ways of being paid when you work the day. For the vacation pay that feeds into it, see the vacation pay calculator.
It runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up.
When to use it
- Checking the public holiday line on a pay statement
- Choosing between premium pay and a substitute day when asked to work a holiday
- Working out holiday pay when your hours change from week to week
- Estimating what a part-time or shift schedule earns on a holiday
Mistakes it helps you avoid
- Including overtime or premium pay in the regular wages. They are excluded.
- Forgetting to add the vacation pay payable on those wages before dividing by 20.
- Paying premium pay on top of regular wages. The two options are separate.
- Using the wrong four weeks. They are the four work weeks before the week containing the holiday.
How public holiday pay is worked out
It is an average daily amount from the four work weeks before the holiday.
public holiday pay = (regular wages in the four work weeks before+ vacation pay payable on those wages) ÷ 20premium pay = 1.5 × regular rate × hours worked on the holidayworking the holiday, option 1: public holiday pay + premium pay for every hour workedworking the holiday, option 2: regular wages for the hours worked+ public holiday pay for a substitute day off
Regular wages for this purpose do not include overtime pay, vacation pay, public holiday pay, premium pay, domestic or sexual violence leave pay, termination pay, severance pay or termination of assignment pay. Ontario has nine public holidays: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Where the employee agrees electronically or in writing to work on a holiday, the employer must use one of the two options; employees in certain industries can be required to work.
Worked example: $4,000 of wages and an eight-hour holiday shift
In the four work weeks before the holiday you earned $4,000 in regular wages, with $160 of vacation pay payable on them. You earn $25 an hour and work 8 hours on the holiday.
- Wages plus vacation pay: 4,000 + 160$4,160.00
- Public holiday pay: 4,160 ÷ 20$208.00
- Premium pay: 1.5 × $25 × 8 hours$300.00
- Option 1: public holiday pay + premium pay$508.00
- Option 2: regular wages for the 8 hours$200.00
- Option 2: plus public holiday pay for a substitute day$208.00
Public holiday pay is $208.00. Working the day pays $508.00 under option 1, or $200.00 now plus $208.00 for a paid day off under option 2.
Option 1 pays more in cash on the day. Option 2 gives you a paid day off as well, so the total value depends on how much you value the time off.
What this does not check
The Ontario guide sets conditions for being entitled to public holiday pay, and there are special rules for some industries and for work on a holiday that falls on a day you would not normally work. This calculator applies the formula only. For overtime on the same wages see the Ontario overtime calculator.
Terms on this page
- Public holiday pay
- The pay an employee receives for a public holiday, calculated as an average of recent wages.
- Premium pay
- 1½ times the regular rate for each hour worked on a public holiday.
- Substitute day
- A paid day off taken instead of a public holiday on which the employee worked.
What has changed, and when
Rates on this page have not always been what they are today. If you are working on an earlier period, use the figure that applied at the time rather than the current one.
- Current Four weeks of regular wages plus vacation pay, divided by 20, and premium pay of 1½ times, per the Ontario guide updated July 2024.
Common questions
How is public holiday pay calculated in Ontario?
Add all of the regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the work week with the holiday to all of the vacation pay payable for those weeks, then divide by 20.
What are the public holidays in Ontario?
Nine: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
What is premium pay?
1½ times the employee's regular rate of pay for each hour worked on the public holiday.
What are my options if I work a public holiday?
With your electronic or written agreement, either public holiday pay plus premium pay for the hours worked, or regular wages for the hours worked plus a substitute paid day off, paid at public holiday pay.
What counts as regular wages?
Regular wages exclude overtime pay, vacation pay, public holiday pay, premium pay, domestic or sexual violence leave pay, termination pay, severance pay and termination of assignment pay.
Where these numbers come from
- Government of Ontario — Your guide to the ESA: Public holidays The public holidays, the public holiday pay formula and premium pay.
Last verified 2026-10-23 Rates on this page are checked against the sources above at least once a year, and whenever the governing authority announces a change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
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