Alberta General Holiday Pay Calculator

The average daily wage — and who picks the window

Section 24.1 of the Employment Standards Code averages your total wages over the number of days worked. But it offers the employer a choice of two windows:

• (a) the four-week period immediately before the general holiday
• (b) the four-week period ending on the last day of the pay period before it

The statute says “whichever of the following periods the employer chooses”. For someone with steady hours the two land in the same place. For anyone with variable hours, a bonus, or a stretch of unpaid leave, they can differ materially — and the choice is not yours.

Alberta’s s. 1(1)(x) definition of wages excludes overtime pay, general holiday pay, vacation pay and termination pay, so none of them enter the average. Regulation s. 35.2 adds that where you are paid a salary plus a bonus, the bonus component is not wages for this purpose.

A holiday on your day off pays nothing

For part-time and shift workers whose days off move around, this is the single most consequential rule on the page.

Thirty days, plus the shifts either side

Section 26 sets a service test and an attendance test, and you must pass both. You need to have worked 30 days in the 12 months before the holiday, and you must not miss your scheduled shift before or after it without consent.

Section 27 handles irregular schedules: a day counts as a normal working day for you if you worked it in at least 5 of the 9 weeks before the holiday. That is the test that decides whether s. 30 applies to you at all.

Working the holiday — the employer picks the deal

Section 29(1) gives the employer two options: your average daily wage plus 1.5× for the hours worked, or straight time for the hours worked plus a substitute day off later with average daily wage.

The choice is the employer’s, not yours. That contrasts with Newfoundland, where the employee elects between money and time off.

Construction and farm work use percentages instead

Two sectors are taken out of the ordinary rules and given a percentage in lieu:

• Construction — Regulation Part 4 replaces ss. 26–33 with 3.6% of wages, payable by 31 December.
• Farm and ranch work — Regulation s. 43.83 substitutes 4.2% of wages, vacation pay and general holiday pay over the preceding four weeks.

Note the farm base is unusual: it counts vacation pay and holiday pay, which the ordinary Alberta rule expressly excludes.

Managers are not exempt in Alberta. The regulation exempts supervisory, managerial and confidential staff from Divisions 3 and 4 — hours of work and overtime — and leaves general holidays alone. British Columbia does the opposite.

Nine holidays, and Truth and Reconciliation is optional

Alberta’s nine are New Year’s Day, Alberta Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day and Christmas Day.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is not a general holiday in Alberta. The province lists it as optional, which means it is paid only if your employer chooses to pay it. British Columbia, Manitoba and PEI have made it statutory.

Heritage Day in August is not a general holiday either, despite being widely observed. Boxing Day and Easter Monday are not on the list.