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Canada Public Holidays 2012

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Bank and Public Holidays for Canada

Canada bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2012, from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use.

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11 May 2012 (The Globe and Mail-Toronto) The Premier of Canada's Province of British Columbia, Christy Clark, has announced that contrary to her earlier announcement, Monday, February 18, 2013, might not be the first occurrence of a new, Family Day, annual public holiday in British Columbia. • 05 May 2012 (The Regina Leader-Post-Regina) The Government of Canada's Province of Saskatchewan has announced a sweeping review of labour legislation in Saskatchewan, including the question of whether the province has the appropriate number of public holidays. • 05 Oct 2011 (The Globe and Mail-Toronto) The Premier of Canada's Province of British Columbia, Christy Clark, has announced that Monday, February 18, 2013, would be the first occurrence of a new, Family Day, annual public holiday. • 21 Apr 2011 (The Nova Scotia Legislature-Halifax) A bill has been introduced, to the legislature of Canada's Province of Nova Scotia, which would create a new provincial non-working public holiday on the third Monday in February. • 03 Feb 2011 (The Globe and Mail-Toronto) Christy Clark, the front-runner for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party of Canada's Province of British Columbia, has said that she is in favor of adding a new annual February public holiday in British Columbia, if she becomes Premier. • 04 Nov 2010 (CTV News-Toronto) An opposition member of the legislature of Canada's Province of Ontario, Progressive Conservative Lisa MacLeod, has announced that she will introduce a private member's bill to designate November 11 as a statutory provincial non-working public holiday. • 28 Sep 2010 The Liberal Party of Canada's Province of New Brunswick has lost yesterday's general elections, thus dashing hopes for a new annual provincial public holiday on the third Monday of February. • 06 Sep 2010 (Radio-Canada-Moncton) The Prime Minister of Canada's Province of New Brunswick, Shawn Graham, has announced that his government, if re-elected, would declare a new annual provincial public holiday, Family Day, on the third Monday of February. • 24 Apr 2009 (Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly-Charlottetown) The government of Canada's Province of Prince Edward Island has introduced Bill No. 72, An Act to Amend the Islander Day Act, which would amend the Employment Standards Act to change the date of the Islander Day annual public holiday to the third Monday in February. • 27 Nov 2008 (Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly-Charlottetown) Canada's Province of Prince Edward Island introduced Bill 44, Islander Day Act, which will amend the Employment Standards Act to introduce an additional statutory public holiday, known as Islander Day, on the second Monday in February throughout the province. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Canada public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Public holidays that fall on a weekend are often taken on a Monday, but not officially, except by banks. Some businesses take the Monday while others take the preceding Friday. Their observance is not uniform throughout the country or even throughout the provinces. • New Year's Day: Although some, such as banks, may have the following Monday off if it falls on a weekend, not everyone does. Some employers may give the time between Christmas and New Year's Day off and thus are open for business on Monday, January 2nd or 3rd. When New Year's Day falls on a weekend then all banks are closed on the following Monday. In QC January 2nd is also a bank holiday. When January 2nd falls on a Saturday, then all banks are closed on Monday, January 4th in the province of Quebec. When it falls on a Sunday, then banks in Quebec are closed on Monday and Tuesday, January 3rd and 4th respectively in QC. • Family Day (3rd Monday in February): in AB and, since 1990, in SK since 2006, and in MB and ON beginning in 2008 (however, federal civil servants, and employees in federally-regulated sectors, will not benefit from this provincial public holiday, in either MB or ON). • Heritage Day: in YT, in February. • Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday only in NL. There is, however, a push, altruistically sponsored by Guinness, to make Saint Patrick's Day a national holiday across Canada. • Easter: Employers in QC have the option of giving either Good Friday or Easter Monday off. The rest of Canada has Good Friday off. Federal employees get both days off, also in NU. Although many stores and shopping malls are open on Sundays, they do remain closed on Easter Sunday. • Saint George's Day: in NL, • Victoria Day: is not officially a statutory holiday in NB, NL, NS, or PE, but most people have it off anyway. • National Aboriginal Day: in NT and NU on June 21. • Discovery Day: in NL, • Saint Jean Baptiste Day: in QC on June 24, or June 25, for all, when the 24th is a Sunday. Banks in Quebec may close on the 23rd if the 24th is a Saturday. • Canada Day: Officially, only Canada Day is moved to a Monday when July 1 falls on a Sunday. There is no official stance when it falls on a Saturday, except for banks which take the next Monday, July 3rd, off. Many take Friday off when it falls on a Saturday. If Canada Day falls on a non-working or vacation day, qualified employees can either take a substitute work day off with public holiday pay or, if they agree in writing, they can receive public holiday pay for Canada Day with no substitute day off. Under the Retail Business Holidays Act, most retail outlets must close on Canada Day. Most employees who work in retail businesses - businesses that sell goods or services to the public - have the right to refuse to work on Canada Day even if they don't qualify for public holiday entitlements . • Orangemen's Day: in NL, • Nunavut Day: in NU, July 9. • Regatta Day: in NL, in August. • Civic Holiday: is referred to differently in various areas but most provinces have a holiday on the first Monday in August unless otherwise noted: • AB (Alberta): Heritage Day. BC (British Columbia): British Columbia Day. MB (Manitoba): Civic Holiday. NB (New Brunswick): New Brunswick Day. NL (Newfoundland and Labrador): Regatta Day. NS (Nova Scotia): Natal Day. ON (Ontario): Civic Holiday (or Simcoe Day in Toronto). PE (Prince Edward Island): Natal Day. QC (Quebec): St. Jean Baptiste (June 24). SK (Saskatchewan): Civic Holiday or Saskatchewan Day. NT (Northwest Territories): Civic Holiday. NU (Nunavut): Civic Holiday. YT (Yukon Territory): Discovery Day (3rd Monday in August.) • Thanksgiving: is not officially a statutory holiday in MB, NB, NL, NS and PE, but most people have it off anyway. • Remembrance Day (until 2006), it was not officially a statutory holiday in MB, NB, NL, ON, PE, and QC, however most Canadians had the day off except in ON and QC, where it was nevertheless observed with a moment of silence. Banks in all provinces did close on Remembrance Day, and when it fell on a weekend, then banks closed on the following Monday. • Remembrance Day (after 2006): the House of Commons bill C-354, An Act to amend the Holidays Act (Remembrance Day) which got its first reading, on September 26, 2006, made November 11 a legal holiday observed throughout Canada, and when November 11 is a Sunday, November 12 would be a legal holiday observed throughout Canada . • Boxing Day: is officially observed in NT, NU, ON, and QC, and by federal employees. It is unofficially observed by many others. Banks in all provinces close. If it falls on a Saturday, then banks close on Monday, December 27th. If it falls on a Sunday, then banks are closed both Monday and Tuesday, December 27th and 28th respectively. • For a list of provincial and non-official holidays in Canada from 2005-2010, see http://tinyurl.com/ckc6r. • Canada International Codes CA and CAN (2 and 3-letter ISO3166 codes) and .ca (ICANN national top-level internet domain). • Other Sources of Information The following specialized websites are also a good source of Canada information and news: Bank of Canada (Canada central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (Canada maps, demographics and economic statistics), the IFES (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and voter participation in Canada), and Wikipedia (includes Canada commemorative dates that are not necessarily public holidays).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Canada, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2012 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Canada, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Canada, before planning any trip to Canada. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our worldwide public holidays news and updates page or subscribe to our free email newsletters.