Prince Edward Island Vacation Pay Calculator

The Act that governs this changed in June 2026

Section 29(1) sets the rate at four per cent where the employee has completed less than five years of continuous employment, and six per cent at five or more. Section 30(1) grants two weeks of uninterrupted paid vacation, or three weeks at five or more years, within the four months following each completed year.

PEI accrues vacation pay per pay period

Section 29(1) is written as an accrual rule: vacation pay accrues in an amount equal to 4% or 6% of the sum of wages and the cash value of meals or lodging per pay period.

Every other province in this comparison applies a percentage to a year's wages. PEI accumulates it cheque by cheque. Section 1(v) reinforces this, defining vacation pay as compensation earned concurrently with wages.

The cash value of meals and lodging is expressly in the base under s. 29(1), valued under s. 29(2) at the maximum deductible amount set by Board order.

The Act defines "wages" and "pay" — and uses the narrow one

This is the most likely modelling error in the new PEI Act, because both terms are defined and they are nearly opposite.

• s. 1(w) "wages" — salary, commission or other monetary compensation for work performed, but not holiday pay, vacation pay, leave pay, tips or benefits.
• s. 1(p) "pay" — all compensation due to an employee, including holiday pay, vacation pay, leave pay, tips and benefits.

Section 29 uses "wages". So holiday pay, leave pay, tips and benefits are all outside the vacation pay base in PEI. Overtime is not named in the exclusions and falls within monetary compensation measured by time, so it counts.

PEI pays vacation pay after the vacation, not before

Section 30(3) requires the employer to pay the accrued vacation pay by the last day of the next pay period after the vacation ends.

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland all require payment at least one day before the vacation begins. PEI inverts it. If you are budgeting for two weeks off on the Island, the money may not arrive until after you are back.

PEI is also the most permissive province on taking the money instead of the time, with three separate routes — s. 31 for an employee who worked under 90% of standard hours in the earning year, s. 32 for an employee employed to work under 90%, and s. 33 for anyone employed for less than one continuous year. All require written notice.

Section 30(5) adds a line worth quoting: "Paid sick leave shall not be considered paid vacation." Section 35 holds vacation pay in trust with priority over all other claims, including the Government's.

Two years to claim — the longest in Atlantic Canada

Section 64(2) requires a complaint within two years of the alleged contravention, and s. 72(1) lets an inspector order remedies for contraventions in the two years preceding the complaint.

That is four times Nova Scotia's six-month window, on an island a ferry ride away, and double New Brunswick's twelve months. Remedies can include interest on the amounts owing.

Note s. 5(2): the Act does not apply to employment under a collective agreement except for an enumerated list of provisions, and ss. 29–35 are not on that list. If you are unionised in PEI, your vacation entitlement comes from your agreement rather than the statute.