After weeks of making an attempt to observe new 12 months’s resolutions, suffering through icy commutes, and placing up with wind chills that make stepping outdoors really feel like a punishment, even one additional day without work sounds fairly good proper now.
Many Canadians are getting precisely that subsequent week. In case you are not conscious, Monday, February 16, is Household Day — a mid-winter statutory holiday noticed throughout a lot of the nation. However in case you’re in Quebec, you are out of luck. Whereas staff in Ontario, Alberta, BC and a number of other different provinces take pleasure in a protracted weekend, Quebecers can be heading to work and faculty as common.
It isn’t a mistake or a calendar oversight. Quebec simply would not do Household Day, and it by no means has.
So why does Quebec skip it? And the way do La Belle Province’s stat holidays truly evaluate to the remainder of Canada?
What’s Household Day?
Household Day was launched again within the Nineties to present staff a mid-winter break and encourage time with household. It is celebrated on the third Monday of February in most provinces that observe it, together with Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
Some provinces rejoice an analogous lengthy weekend however name it one thing totally different. Prince Edward Island has Islander Day, Manitoba marks Louis Riel Day, and Nova Scotia observes Heritage Day.
Regardless of the identify, the aim is similar: giving staff a breather between New Yr’s Day and Good Friday, which sit greater than three months aside this 12 months.
Why would not Quebec rejoice Household Day?
There isn’t any official authorities clarification for why Quebec would not observe Household Day. The province simply by no means adopted it when different elements of Canada began rolling it out.
But when you understand something about Quebec’s relationship with holidays, it is not precisely stunning.
The province has a protracted historical past of doing issues its personal method, particularly on the subject of statutory holidays with patriotic or cultural significance.
As an alternative of Victoria Day, Quebec celebrates Journée nationale des patriotes. Canada Day? Most individuals right here realize it higher as Transferring Day, because the majority of leases finish on June 30. Remembrance Day and Nationwide Day for Fact and Reconciliation aren’t paid holidays for many Quebec staff both.
Funnily sufficient, based on the Quebec government’s website, the province does acknowledge Québec Household Mediation Day yearly on the primary Wednesday of February. The day exists to boost consciousness about household mediation and promote battle decision by means of accredited mediators.
So whereas the remainder of Canada will get a day without work to spend with their households, Quebec dedicates a day to serving to households work by means of their issues — simply not with a statutory vacation hooked up.
How Quebec’s statutory holidays evaluate
Quebec acknowledges eight statutory holidays every year, based on the federal authorities. That features 5 nationwide holidays and three provincial ones.
To place that in perspective, Ontario will get 9 statutory holidays yearly. British Columbia sits on the prime with 11.
This is the place Quebec traces up:
Holidays Quebec acknowledges:
New Yr’s Day (January 1) — Noticed nationwide
Good Friday (March or April) — Some workplaces swap this for Easter Monday
Journée nationale des patriotes (Final Monday earlier than Might 25) — Quebec’s model of Victoria Day
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24) — A Quebec-specific vacation
Canada Day (July 1) — Also referred to as Transferring Day throughout the province
Labour Day (First Monday in September) — Acknowledged throughout Canada
Thanksgiving (Second Monday in October) — Technically non-compulsory in Quebec, however broadly noticed
Christmas Day (December 25) — Noticed nationwide
Holidays Quebec skips:
Household Day (Third Monday in February) — Celebrated throughout most provinces
Civic Vacation (First Monday in August) — Elective in a number of provinces, not noticed right here
Nationwide Day for Fact and Reconciliation (September 30) — A stat vacation in some provinces
Remembrance Day (November 11) — Statutory in some provinces however not Quebec
Boxing Day (December 26) — Statutory for federal workers, not provincially acknowledged in Quebec
Does Quebec make up for it elsewhere?
Quebec may come up quick on statutory holidays, however the province does lead in different areas.
Trip time, for one. Quebec staff earn three weeks of paid day off after three years with the identical employer, based on a 2025 report from Thirdsail. That timeline beats out New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland, the place staff typically want to stay round for eight years or longer to hit that mark.
So whereas Quebec misses out on a number of scattered lengthy weekends, staff right here get extra management over after they take their day off. It is a totally different trade-off, nevertheless it’s one thing.
That mentioned, it is arduous to argue in opposition to an additional day without work within the lifeless of winter.