Time and a Half in Ontario: Overtime & Public Holiday Pay Guide

Short answer: Ontario requires employers to pay time and a half (1.5x the regular hourly rate) for every hour worked beyond 44 in a single work week under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). Additionally, employees who work on a public statutory holiday are entitled to premium pay at 1.5x their regular rate, public holiday pay (calculated as 1/20 of the wages earned in the four weeks before the holiday), and an alternative day off with pay. Ontario's overtime framework is distinct from the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which uses a 40-hour threshold, and from other Canadian provinces that set different overtime thresholds.

This guide walks through Ontario's overtime rules, statutory holiday pay entitlements, worked examples at common wage rates, overtime averaging agreements, industry-specific exemptions, and frequently asked questions. Whether you are an employee trying to understand your pay stub or an employer ensuring ESA compliance, the details below cover what you need to know.

Ontario overtime threshold: 44 hours per week

Under Part VIII of Ontario's Employment Standards Act, the standard overtime threshold is 44 hours per week. Any hours worked beyond 44 in a single work week must be compensated at 1.5 times the employee's regular hourly wage. The "work week" is defined as a recurring period of seven consecutive days established by the employer. Most employers set the work week from Sunday to Saturday or Monday to Sunday, but the ESA permits any consistent seven-day period.

The overtime rate of 1.5x applies to the regular rate, which includes most forms of hourly base pay but excludes overtime premiums, bonuses, tips, and most discretionary payments. If an employee earns different rates for different jobs during the same week, the weighted average of those rates is used to calculate overtime pay.

Ontario's 44-hour threshold is higher than the 40-hour threshold used by the FLSA in the United States and by several other Canadian provinces. British Columbia and Saskatchewan, for example, also use 40 hours, while Alberta uses 44 hours (with some exceptions). As of 2026, the Ontario minimum wage is $17.20 per hour (general rate) and $16.20 per hour for students under 18. At the minimum wage rate, time and a half pay on a public holiday would be $25.80 per hour — a meaningful premium for minimum wage workers. Ontario's threshold means that an employee working 45 hours in a week would receive straight-time pay for 44 hours and 1.5x pay for 1 hour — whereas under the FLSA that same schedule would generate 5 hours of overtime.

Not every employee is covered by the standard 44-hour rule. Certain categories of workers are exempt from Ontario's overtime provisions, including:

• Managers and supervisors whose work is primarily managerial in nature
• Information technology professionals earning above a specified salary threshold
• Students in certain work-experience programs
• Fishing and hunting guides
• Employees covered by a valid overtime averaging agreement

Ontario statutory holiday pay

Ontario recognizes nine public (statutory) holidays each year. When a public holiday falls on a day that would normally be a working day for an employee, the employer must provide either the day off with public holiday pay or, if the employee agrees to work, premium pay at 1.5x plus public holiday pay plus an alternative day off. The entitlement formula is specific under the ESA.

Public holiday pay is calculated as 1/20 of the total wages (including vacation pay that is paid or payable) earned by the employee in the four work weeks immediately preceding the holiday week. This means an employee who earned $2,000 in the four weeks before a holiday would receive $100 in public holiday pay for that day.

If the employee works on the public holiday, they are entitled to all three of the following:

• Public holiday pay — 1/20 of the wages earned in the preceding four weeks
• Premium pay — 1.5x the regular rate for every hour worked on the holiday
• Substitute day off — an alternative day off with public holiday pay that must be taken within three months of the holiday (or, with employee agreement, within 12 months)

If the employee does not work on the public holiday, they receive only the public holiday pay and are not eligible for premium pay or a substitute day.

Ontario's nine statutory holidays

The following table lists Ontario's nine public holidays under the ESA. For the specific "time and a half days ontario 2026" calendar, the holidays fall on these approximate dates: New Year's Day (Jan 1), Family Day (Feb 17), Good Friday (Apr 3), Victoria Day (May 19), Canada Day (Jul 1), Labour Day (Sep 1), Thanksgiving Day (Oct 13), Christmas Day (Dec 25), and Boxing Day (Dec 26). Note that when a statutory holiday falls on a weekend, most employers observe it on the following Monday (or the preceding Friday, depending on the holiday and the employer's policy).

Worked examples

The examples below show how Ontario's overtime and public holiday rules apply to employees at three different wage rates. Each example assumes a standard 44-hour overtime threshold and compliance with the ESA.

Example 1: $18/hr employee working Labour Day

Alex earns $18.00 per hour and works an 8-hour shift on Labour Day. In the four weeks before Labour Day, Alex earned $2,880 in total wages.

Plus: one substitute day off with pay (value $144.00) | Combined value: ~$504.00

Alex receives premium pay of $27.00/hour for all hours worked on Labour Day, plus the public holiday pay entitlement of $144.00, plus a substitute day off that must be taken within three months.

Example 2: $22/hr employee working 48 hours in a week

Jordan earns $22.00 per hour and works 48 hours in a single work week (no public holiday involved). The overtime threshold is 44 hours.

Jordan's overtime premium of $44.00 represents the additional 0.5x above the straight rate for the 4 overtime hours. Under the FLSA 40-hour rule, Jordan would have earned overtime on 8 hours instead of 4, illustrating the significant difference between the Ontario and U.S. thresholds.

Example 3: $30/hr employee with overtime week AND a public holiday

Taylor earns $30.00 per hour and works a 50-hour week that includes Canada Day (a public holiday). Taylor worked 8 hours on Canada Day as part of the 50-hour total. Wages in the four weeks before the holiday totalled $4,800.

Note: OT hours include the 8 holiday hours — no double-counting | Plus: one substitute day off (value $240.00)

Because the 6 overtime hours already capture the 8 Canada Day hours at 1.5x through the weekly overtime calculation, there is no additional premium beyond what is shown. The public holiday pay of $240.00 and the substitute day off are separate entitlements under the ESA.

Overtime averaging agreements

Ontario's ESA allows employers and employees (or their unions) to enter into overtime averaging agreements. Under such an agreement, overtime is calculated over a period longer than one week — typically two, three, or four weeks — rather than against the weekly 44-hour threshold. The intent is to accommodate workplaces with fluctuating schedules where employees may work more than 44 hours in some weeks but fewer in others.

For example, under a four-week averaging agreement, an employee who works 50, 40, 45, and 41 hours over four consecutive weeks would have worked 176 total hours. Dividing by four gives an average of 44 hours per week — exactly the threshold — so no overtime is owed, even though the employee exceeded 44 hours in two of those weeks. Without the averaging agreement, the employee would have earned overtime for the 50-hour week (6 hours) and the 45-hour week (1 hour).

Overtime averaging agreements must be in writing and signed by both parties before the start of the averaging period. The ESA caps the averaging period at four weeks, and the agreement may be revoked by either party with reasonable notice.

Industries with different overtime rules

While the 44-hour threshold applies to most Ontario employees, several industries and job classifications operate under different rules:

• Construction: Employees in the industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) construction sector are generally subject to a 44-hour threshold. However, some construction trades have specific rules under collective agreements that may differ.
• Hospitality (hotels, motels, restaurants, taverns): The standard 44-hour threshold applies, but special rules exist for how overtime is calculated for employees who receive tips or gratuities. The overtime rate is based on the hourly wage alone, excluding tips.
• Information technology professionals: IT professionals (such as software engineers, systems analysts, and network administrators) earning above the salary threshold set by regulation (approximately $55,600 per year as of 2024) are generally exempt from overtime provisions under the ESA.
• Municipal and public sector: Some municipal employees may have different overtime thresholds established by their collective agreements or by specific regulations.
• Emergency services: Police, firefighters, and paramedics often have specialized overtime arrangements defined by their respective collective agreements and regulations.
• Hunting and fishing guides: These workers are exempt from the overtime provisions altogether under the ESA.

Comparison with U.S. FLSA

The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act sets the federal overtime threshold at 40 hours per week, four hours lower than Ontario's 44-hour threshold. This means a U.S. non-exempt employee working 45 hours in a week earns 5 hours of overtime at 1.5x, while an Ontario employee in the same scenario earns only 1 hour of overtime.

Another key difference is the treatment of public holidays. The FLSA does not require premium pay for work on federal holidays — it only mandates the standard 1.5x overtime rate for hours beyond 40 in a work week. Ontario's ESA, by contrast, provides a comprehensive framework of public holiday pay, premium pay at 1.5x, and substitute days off regardless of weekly overtime calculations. U.S. employers are free to offer holiday pay voluntarily, but the FLSA does not mandate it in the way the ESA does.

Additionally, Ontario's overtime averaging agreements (up to four weeks) have no direct counterpart in the FLSA. The U.S. Department of Labor permits some flexible work arrangements under the "fluctuating workweek" method, but the legal framework differs significantly from Ontario's averaging agreements.

Frequently asked questions