Nanny Statutory Holiday Pay Ontario: 2026 Guide

Labour Day is September 7, 2026. If you employ a nanny in Ontario, you need their public holiday pay calculated correctly before then. A wrong number can put you offside with provincial employment standards.

This guide covers how nanny statutory holiday pay works in Ontario, with short notes for BC, Alberta, and Quebec.

What Is Statutory Holiday Pay (and Does It Apply to Nannies)?

Statutory holidays (also called public holidays or “stat holidays”) are designated days when employees are entitled to either:

A paid day off at their regular rate, or
Premium pay (typically 1.5× their regular rate) if they work the holiday, plus a future day off in lieu.

In Ontario, domestic workers including nannies, au pairs, and caregivers are covered by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). There is no domestic worker exemption for public holidays.

Ontario’s 9 statutory holidays in 2026:

Holiday	2026 Date
New Year’s Day	January 1
Family Day	February 16
Good Friday	April 3
Victoria Day	May 18
Canada Day	July 1
Labour Day	September 7
Thanksgiving Day	October 12
Christmas Day	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26

The Ontario Statutory Holiday Pay Formula

Most families already know their nanny is entitled to stat pay. The hard part is figuring out how much.

Ontario uses a “20-day average” formula under the ESA:

Statutory holiday pay = Total regular wages earned in the 4 weeks before the holiday ÷ 20

Key definitions:

“4 weeks before the holiday” means the 4-week period that ends the day before the statutory holiday (28 calendar days).
“Regular wages” include hourly wages, salary, commission, and vacation pay paid in that window. They exclude overtime premiums and earlier stat holiday pay.
The ÷ 20 is fixed. It does not change based on how many days your nanny actually worked. You always divide by 20 (the standard number of working days in a 4-week period).

Example: Calculating Your Nanny’s Labour Day Pay

Your nanny works Monday–Friday, 9am–4pm (35 hours/week) at $20/hour.

Gross wages over the 4 weeks before Labour Day (Aug 10 – Sep 6, 2026):

4 weeks × 35 hours × $20/hr = $2,800 in regular wages

Stat holiday pay:

$2,800 ÷ 20 = $140

Your nanny receives $140 for Labour Day even if they do not work that day.

What About Part-Time or Variable-Hours Nannies?

The same formula applies for part-time nannies and for schedules of two or three days per week. The dollar amount will be lower when the 4-week regular wage total is lower.

That is where why spreadsheets break for stat holiday payroll shows up in real life. Once hours change week to week, a hardcoded spreadsheet formula drifts. Missed shifts for illness, extra shifts, and last-minute schedule changes all change the 4-week wage pool. A static sheet cannot keep up.

Does Your Nanny Get Paid If They Work on Labour Day?

Yes. If they work Labour Day, Ontario requires public holiday pay plus either a substitute day off or 1.5× premium pay.

Option A: work + substitute day off

Public holiday pay for the day (using the formula above)
Regular pay for hours worked on the holiday
A substitute day off later, paid at their regular rate

Option B: work with no substitute day

Public holiday pay for the day
Premium pay at 1.5× their regular hourly rate for all hours worked on the holiday

Most families pick Option A. It avoids the 1.5× premium. Agree on the substitute day in writing.

Qualifying for Statutory Holiday Pay in Ontario

Ontario does not use a minimum length-of-employment screen for public holiday pay. What matters is the work pattern around the holiday: your nanny generally needs to work their last regularly scheduled day before the holiday and their first regularly scheduled day after it (unless the absence is excused under the ESA).

If either of those booked days is missed without a permitted reason, they can lose public holiday pay for that holiday. Keep shift records tight around Labour Day and every other stat.

Statutory Holiday Pay for Nannies Outside Ontario

British Columbia

BC has 11 statutory holidays in 2026. Compared with Ontario, BC drops Boxing Day and adds Civic / Provincial Day (BC Day, August 3), National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), and Remembrance Day (November 11).

To qualify, your nanny must have been employed for at least 30 days before the holiday and worked or been paid for at least 15 of the 30 calendar days immediately before it.

Formula:

Total wages earned in the 30 calendar days before the holiday ÷ the number of days worked in that period

Alberta

Alberta calls them “general holidays” and has 9 per year (including Remembrance Day; no Boxing Day). Pay is average daily wage:

Total wages in the 4 weeks before the holiday ÷ number of days worked in those 4 weeks

Alberta divides by days actually worked, not a fixed 20. That usually helps employees with fewer working days.

Eligibility is stricter than Ontario: your nanny generally needs to have worked or been paid on at least 30 days in the 12 months before the holiday, and to work their last scheduled day before and first scheduled day after the holiday.

Quebec

Quebec has 8 public holidays in the 2026 calendar used here, including St-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24). It does not observe Ontario’s Family Day or Boxing Day.

The calculation is 1/20th of wages earned in the 4 weeks before the holiday (same ÷ 20 structure as Ontario). Vacation pay is not included in that wage pool. As in Ontario, Quebec also expects the employee to work the last scheduled day before and the first scheduled day after the holiday.

The Shift-Tracking Problem

Here is a common mess: your nanny works some Saturdays, stays late a few evenings, and takes a sick day mid-week. Those changes flow straight into the 4-week wage pool. If you approximate with “they work X hours per week,” the stat pay number will be wrong.

Log actual hours per shift so the 4-week wage total is real, not guessed. Our nanny tax calculator can help you model the math. RoostPay tracks hours and applies the provincial formula for you.

Quick Reference: Labour Day 2026 Checklist

Before September 7, 2026:

Confirm whether your nanny is working on Labour Day or taking the paid day off
If they are taking the day off, calculate stat pay using the 4-week formula
If they are working, choose Option A (sub day) or Option B (1.5× premium) and document it
Record the stat holiday in your payroll records with the correct dollar amount
Issue the pay stub with “Public Holiday Pay” itemized separately

Ready for Labour Day Payroll?

Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Boxing Day all land in the next few months. Get the Ontario formula right once and you can reuse it for the rest of the season.

RoostPay tracks actual shifts and applies the Ontario formula automatically. Pay stubs show Public Holiday Pay as its own line.

Explore our payroll features for household employers to see how RoostPay handles stat holidays, CPP, EI, and year-end T4s, or join the RoostPay waitlist to get set up before Labour Day.

Further reading: the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s ESA guide.