Is Civic Holiday a statutory holiday in Ontario?
The first Monday in August empties a lot of Ontario offices, and Toronto calls it Simcoe Day, but the Employment Standards Act does not name it as a public holiday. Whether you get the day off depends on your employer, not on that Act.
What Civic Holiday is, in Ontario
Civic Holiday is the first Monday in August. Many Ontario municipalities give it a local commemoration name (Simcoe Day in Toronto, Colonel By Day in Ottawa, Joseph Brant Day in Burlington, and others) and close civic services. Banks and some larger employers also treat it as a day off. None of that writes it into the Employment Standards Act. If your workplace is closed, that comes from the employer, a contract or a collective agreement.
The other two days Ontarians often mix up with statutory holidays are Remembrance Day (11 November) and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (30 September). Those are also not ESA public holidays; the full nine-day list is in Ontario public holidays 2026.
Upcoming first-Monday-in-August dates
| Year | Civic Holiday (first Monday in August) |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday 3 August |
| 2027 | Monday 2 August |
| 2028 | Monday 7 August |
Which provinces and territories give a paid August holiday
| Place | August holiday under employment standards | 2026 date |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | No statutory August holiday | Civic Holiday 3 Aug is observed by many, not required |
| British Columbia | Yes — B.C. Day | Monday 3 August |
| Saskatchewan | Yes — Saskatchewan Day | Monday 3 August |
| New Brunswick | Yes — New Brunswick Day | Monday 3 August |
| Northwest Territories | Yes — Civic Holiday | Monday 3 August |
| Nunavut | Yes — Civic Holiday | Monday 3 August |
| Yukon | Yes — Discovery Day (third Monday, not the first) | Monday 17 August |
| Alberta | No (Heritage Day is widely observed, not required) | Monday 3 August observed |
| Manitoba | No (often observed as Terry Fox Day / Civic Holiday) | Monday 3 August observed |
| Nova Scotia | No (Natal Day is a municipal holiday in some places) | — |
| Prince Edward Island | No statutory August holiday | — |
| Quebec | No — the summer statutory holiday is Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (24 June) | — |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | No statutory August holiday | — |
| Federal (Canada Labour Code) | No Civic Holiday; the late-summer extras are not on the federal list | — |
Pick a region in the calculator and switch Holiday set to “Statutory (employment standards)” to see only the days that list includes. “Federal + extras” keeps Civic Holiday (or the local August name) on the Canadian provincial calendars that commonly show it, which is handy for school and municipal schedules but over-counts for many payroll questions in Ontario.
How to ask the API
# Ontario ESA list (no Civic Holiday)
curl -s 'https://api.oddlathe.com/v1/holidays?region=ca-on&year=2026&set=statutory'
# same calendar with commonly added days included
curl -s 'https://api.oddlathe.com/v1/holidays?region=ca-on&year=2026&set=observed'
# B.C. Day is on the statutory list
curl -s 'https://api.oddlathe.com/v1/holidays?region=ca-bc&year=2026&set=statutory'
Related
Ontario public holidays 2026 · Family Day dates by province · Working days until a deadline · Bank holidays calculator · Anvil holidays API
Questions
Is Civic Holiday a statutory holiday in Ontario?
No. Ontario's Employment Standards Act names nine public holidays, and the first Monday in August is not one of them.
When is Civic Holiday in 2027?
Monday 2 August 2027, the first Monday in August.
Is Simcoe Day the same as Civic Holiday?
In Toronto, yes: Simcoe Day is the municipal name for the first Monday in August. Ottawa calls it Colonel By Day. The date is the same.
Which provinces treat the August holiday as statutory?
British Columbia (B.C. Day), Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Day), New Brunswick (New Brunswick Day), the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (Civic Holiday). Yukon's Discovery Day is the third Monday in August.
Do federally regulated workers in Ontario get Civic Holiday?
Not as a Canada Labour Code holiday. Federally regulated employers follow the federal list (region=ca), which does not include Civic Holiday.
Published .