The next general holiday in Alberta is Remembrance Day, Wednesday, November 11, 2026, followed by Christmas Day on Friday, December 25 and New Year's Day on Friday, January 1, 2027. The rules for paying them have not changed: Alberta still has nine general holidays, an employee still qualifies after 30 work days in the past 12 months, and holiday pay still depends on whether the holiday falls on the employee's regular day of work.
Below is the reference: every Alberta general holiday for 2027, who qualifies, the average daily wage formula, worked examples, and the cases payroll gets wrong. Alberta's rules differ from BC's in ways that catch employers with staff in both provinces, so we flag those differences as we go.
What changed, and what did not
- No new general holiday. The Employment Standards Code still lists nine. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) is a federal statutory holiday but is not an Alberta general holiday for provincially regulated employers.
- No change to the pay rules. Average daily wage, the regular-day test and the 1.5x premium are the same as they have been since the 2019 amendments to the Code.
- Who this affects: every provincially regulated employer in Alberta. Federally regulated employers (banks, airlines, interprovincial trucking, telecoms) follow the Canada Labour Code instead, which has its own holiday list and pay rules.
Sources: Government of Alberta: General holidays and general holiday pay and Alberta King's Printer: Employment Standards Code, Part 2, Division 5.
Alberta stat holidays 2027 (and the rest of 2026)
Alberta calls them general holidays; most people search for them as stat holidays. They are the same thing.
| General holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Thu, Jan 1 | Fri, Jan 1 |
| Alberta Family Day (third Monday of February) | Mon, Feb 16 | Mon, Feb 15 |
| Good Friday | Fri, Apr 3 | Fri, Mar 26 |
| Victoria Day | Mon, May 18 | Mon, May 24 |
| Canada Day | Wed, Jul 1 | Thu, Jul 1 |
| Labour Day | Mon, Sep 7 | Mon, Sep 6 |
| Thanksgiving Day | Mon, Oct 12 | Mon, Oct 11 |
| Remembrance Day | Wed, Nov 11 | Thu, Nov 11 |
| Christmas Day | Fri, Dec 25 | Sat, Dec 25 |
Optional holidays (not required by the Code)
| Optional holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Easter Monday | Mon, Apr 6 | Mon, Mar 29 |
| Heritage Day (first Monday of August) | Mon, Aug 3 | Mon, Aug 2 |
| National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Wed, Sep 30 | Thu, Sep 30 |
| Boxing Day | Sat, Dec 26 | Sun, Dec 26 |
An employer can choose to recognize any of these, or any other day, as a general holiday. Once you do, all the general holiday pay rules apply to that day as if it were one of the nine. So a policy that says "we observe Heritage Day" is a commitment to pay it like a general holiday.
Yes, Remembrance Day is a stat holiday in Alberta. It is one of the nine general holidays in section 25 of the Code. Boxing Day and Heritage Day are not, despite being widely given off.
Source: Government of Alberta: General holidays and general holiday pay.
Who qualifies for Alberta stat holiday pay
An employee is eligible for general holiday pay when they have worked for you on 30 work days or more in the 12 months before the holiday. Note that this is 30 work days, not 30 calendar days as in BC, so a part-time employee working two days a week needs about 15 weeks of service before they qualify.
An otherwise eligible employee loses the entitlement for a particular holiday if they:
- do not work their scheduled shift immediately before or immediately after the holiday without your consent, or
- do not work on the general holiday when required or scheduled to.
| Employee | Eligible? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time, five days a week, hired 3 months ago | Yes | Well over 30 work days in the past 12 months |
| Full-time, hired 4 weeks before the holiday | No | Only about 20 work days so far |
| Part-time, two shifts a week, hired 6 months ago | Yes | About 50 work days, but see the regular-day test below |
| Skipped their shift the day after the holiday, no consent | No | Loses the entitlement for that holiday |
| Called in sick the day before, employer accepted it | Yes | The absence was with consent |
Eligibility is only the first step. Whether an eligible employee is actually paid anything depends on the next test.
The regular day of work test (the 5-of-9 rule)
Alberta pays general holiday pay to an employee who does not work the holiday only if the holiday falls on a day that would normally have been a day of work for them.
For employees with a fixed schedule, that is straightforward: a Monday-to-Friday employee's regular days are Monday to Friday. For irregular schedules, the Code uses a look-back:
The holiday is a normal work day if, in at least 5 of the 9 weeks before the week in which the holiday falls, the employee worked on that same day of the week.
So for Remembrance Day on a Wednesday, look at the nine weeks before the week of November 11. If the employee worked a Wednesday in five or more of them, November 11 is a regular day of work for them.
This is the biggest difference from BC, where an eligible employee gets an average day's pay even when the holiday falls on their day off. In Alberta, an eligible employee who does not normally work that day gets nothing for not working it.
Sources: Government of Alberta: General holidays and general holiday pay and Employment Standards Code.
How to calculate Alberta stat holiday pay
Average daily wage
Average daily wage = total wages earned in the 4-week period ÷ number of days worked in that period
You choose the 4-week period, as long as it is one of these two:
- the 4 weeks immediately before the general holiday, or
- the 4 weeks ending on the last day of the pay period before the general holiday.
Overtime pay is excluded; it is not counted as wages for this calculation. Alberta's own example: an employee who worked 10 days and earned $1,000 in wages in the period has an average daily wage of $100.
The four pay situations
| The holiday is... | Employee does not work it | Employee works it |
|---|---|---|
| A regular day of work | At least their average daily wage | Option A: average daily wage plus at least 1.5x their wage rate for each hour worked. Option B: their regular wage for the hours worked plus a paid day off later, paid at the average daily wage |
| Not a regular day of work | Nothing | At least 1.5x their wage rate for each hour worked |
The employer chooses between Option A and Option B. Under Option B, the substitute day off must be taken on a day that would normally be a work day for the employee, and no later than their next annual vacation.
If the holiday falls during the employee's vacation
An eligible employee on annual vacation when a general holiday falls is entitled to a day off with general holiday pay at their average daily wage. It is taken on the first scheduled working day after the vacation, or, by agreement with you, on another normal work day before their next annual vacation.
Sources: Government of Alberta: General holidays and general holiday pay, Government of Alberta: Vacations and vacation pay and Employment Standards Code, sections 24.1 to 31.
Worked examples for Remembrance Day 2026
These examples use an employee paid $25 an hour on 8-hour shifts.
1. Regular Wednesday worker, takes the day off. In the 4 weeks before November 11 they worked 20 days and earned $4,000, with no overtime. Average daily wage = $4,000 ÷ 20 = $200.
2. Regular Wednesday worker, works 8 hours, Option A. $200 average daily wage, plus 8 × $25 × 1.5 = $300, = $500 for the day.
3. Same employee, Option B. They are paid their regular $200 for the 8 hours worked on November 11, and get a paid day off later (at $200) before their next annual vacation.
4. Part-time, works Tuesdays and Thursdays only. They meet the 30-work-day test, but Wednesday is not their regular day of work. If they do not work November 11, no general holiday pay is owed. If you call them in for 6 hours, they are paid 6 × $25 × 1.5 = $225, with no average daily wage on top.
5. Irregular schedule. A casual employee worked a Wednesday in 6 of the 9 weeks before the week of November 11. Wednesday counts as a regular day of work, so they are owed their average daily wage if they do not work it, as in example 1.
Edge cases that trip up Alberta payroll
- Christmas 2027 on a Saturday. For a Monday-to-Friday employee, Saturday, December 25, 2027 is not a regular day of work, so the Code does not require general holiday pay or a substitute Monday off. Many employers give the Monday anyway; if your policy or contract promises it, the promise is binding.
- Applying BC rules to Alberta staff. BC pays an average day's pay even when the holiday falls on a day off, and uses a 15-of-30 calendar-day test. Alberta uses 30 work days in 12 months and the regular-day test. Employers with staff in both provinces should run separate checks.
- Treating optional holidays as optional pay. If you designate Heritage Day or Boxing Day as a general holiday, the full pay rules apply, including 1.5x for anyone who works it.
- Including overtime in the average daily wage. Overtime pay is excluded. Including it overstates holiday pay.
- Forgetting the substitute day. Choosing Option B and then never scheduling the day off leaves the employee owed the average daily wage. Track the deadline against their next annual vacation.
- Different rules for some industries. Construction and farm and ranch employees have their own general holiday rules. Check the provincial guidance before applying the standard calculation to them.
General holiday pay is employment income, so it runs through payroll with the usual income tax, CPP and EI deductions. Alberta has no provincial payroll tax, so there is no employer health tax on top. See our source deductions employer guide and CPP, CPP2 and EI explained for the current figures.
What an Alberta employer should do before November 11
- Run the 30-work-day test for recent hires and part-time staff.
- Decide who has November 11 as a regular day of work, using the 5-of-9 rule for anyone on an irregular schedule.
- Calculate each eligible employee's average daily wage from one of the two allowed 4-week periods, excluding overtime.
- For anyone scheduled to work the holiday, choose Option A or Option B and record it. If Option B, schedule the substitute day before their next vacation.
- Write down your policy on Christmas 2027 and the optional holidays so it is applied consistently, and put the 2027 dates in your payroll calendar.
The province's Easy Check tool for general holidays lets you test individual scenarios. For the BC version of these rules, see our post on BC stat holiday pay.
Key takeaways
- Alberta has nine general holidays; Remembrance Day is one, Boxing Day, Easter Monday, Heritage Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are optional.
- An employee qualifies after 30 work days in the past 12 months, and loses the holiday if they miss the scheduled shift before or after it without consent.
- On a regular day of work, a non-working employee gets their average daily wage; a working employee gets the average daily wage plus 1.5x, or regular wages plus a paid day off.
- On a day that is not a regular day of work, there is no pay for not working it, and 1.5x for working it.
RN Canada provides bookkeeping and payroll support to Alberta employers from our Edmonton office, including general holiday and year-end payroll checks.