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Vacation pay
calculator (Canada)

Work out statutory vacation pay by province and length of service, including Quebec's earlier step to 6%.

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Vacation pay
 
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What is the minimum vacation pay in Canada?

4% of gross earnings (two weeks) in most provinces, rising to 6% (three weeks) after five years. Quebec reaches 6% at three years, and Saskatchewan starts at three weeks.

How we calculated this

Vacation pay is a percentage of gross earnings, and the percentage steps up with service. In Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta it is 4% (two weeks) until five years of service, then 6% (three weeks). Quebec steps to 6% and three weeks at three years. We take the province and years of service you entered and pick the percentage that applies, then multiply it by the gross earnings. The result is the statutory minimum for a provincially regulated employee; a contract or collective agreement can only add to it. The working, the assumptions and the sources are all below.

New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of vacation pay in Canada in the HR Glossary.

Your working
Assumptions
  • Uses the provincial minimums for Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec: 4% rising to 6% at five years, or at three years in Quebec. Other provinces differ (Saskatchewan starts at three weeks) and federally regulated employers follow the Canada Labour Code, so use the province's own guide if yours is not listed.
  • Applies the step-up from the service anniversary. Whether the higher rate applies to the whole vacation entitlement year or only from the anniversary varies by province, so the figure around the threshold can be a little high or low.
  • Treats gross earnings as everything vacation pay is calculated on for that province, which usually includes overtime and commission and usually excludes the previous year's vacation pay. Check the provincial definition before you finalise the payment.
  • Assumes an hourly, casual, part-time or commission worker for whom the percentage is genuinely added. For a salaried employee vacation pay is normally already inside the salary as paid time off, so this figure would double-count.
Sources

What to do about it

The percentage is the easy half. Whether people take the leave, and come back better for it, is the half that shows up in the engagement scores and the exit list. These steps are for whoever runs payroll and whoever manages the roster, because vacation sits between them.

1

Confirm the province, the anniversary, the earnings base and the pay type

Province of employment sets the threshold, the anniversary date sets when 6% starts, the provincial definition sets what counts as gross earnings, and the pay type sets whether the percentage is added at all. Note all four against each record so the year-end reconciliation takes minutes.

2

Separate salaried from hourly in the payroll setup

Adding 4% on top of a salary double-counts; forgetting it for hourly and commission staff underpays them. Check that the vacation pay flag matches the pay type for every employee, and that vacation pay shows separately on the pay statement.

3

Track leave taken, by team, each quarter

Accrued and untaken vacation is a liability on the balance sheet and a warning about workload. If one team carries far more untaken days than the rest, the problem is rarely the entitlement.

4
Where a tool helps

Treat vacation as recovery, not admin

Encourage full weeks off and arrange cover so people can switch off. Notice who never takes a break. A team that cannot take its leave is a team running down, and the survey says so a quarter later.

The 4% is payroll.
The strain is people.

Compono Engage is an employee engagement platform that reads culture and climate alongside work personality, team by team, so you can see whether a team is recovering or quietly running down. Most engagement tools give you an annual score and an average; Engage shows which team is under strain and what is driving it, in time to change it.

Step 4 asks you to treat vacation as recovery and notice who never switches off. Engage gives you that read continuously, so the vacation pay you calculated above buys people who come back, rather than a liability that grows.

See how it works
Compono Engage
8%+
reduction in turnover

Common questions

When does vacation pay increase to 6%?

After five years of service in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. After three years in Quebec. Check your province, because the thresholds genuinely differ.

Does vacation pay apply to salaried employees?

For salaried staff it is usually already inside the salary as paid time off, so it is not an extra cost. It matters most for hourly, casual and commission workers, where the percentage is added to earnings.

Are these minimums or the whole picture?

Minimums. Many employers offer more, and a contract or collective agreement can be more generous than the statutory floor, never less.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with your provincial employment standards office or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.

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Vacation pay in Canada

The plain-English definition, with the calculators and rules that sit around it.

Read the definition →Talk to us

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