Statutory holidays are also referred to as General Holidays.
A general holiday, or stat holiday, are days that require employers to legally give an employee the day off with pay, or extra pay if they work.
There are 9 Federal General Holidays in Canada, and more optional holidays that a province can deem a stat holiday.
Is Boxing Day a Stat Holiday in Alberta?
No, Boxing Day is not a stat holiday in Alberta.
Christmas Day is a statutory holiday, but Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day), is not.
The 9 statutory general holidays in Alberta, Canada are:
- New Year’s Day
- Alberta Family Day
- Good Friday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Labour Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Remembrance Day
- Christmas Day
Here are 3 optional holidays that an employer can voluntarily choose to treat as a general holiday (statutory holiday) in Alberta:
- Easter Monday
- Heritage Day (Civic Holiday)
- Boxing Day
In Summary
- Stat holidays in Alberta are general holidays that employers must treat according to the Employment Standards Code.
- Boxing Day is not a stat holiday, but Christmas Day is.
- An employer may choose to offer Boxing Day to employees as a general holiday as a perk, if they choose to. If this choice is made, the employer is then legally required to treat it according to the Employment Standards code as if it were one of the nine General Holidays.
