September 19, 2022 will be a holiday in some parts of Canada to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II

[Updated on September 14, 2022]

On Tuesday, September 13, 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Monday, September 19, ‎‎2022 will be a national day of mourning and general holiday for federal government employees to ‎acknowledge the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The holiday aligns with the date of the Queen’s funeral ‎in the United Kingdom and will be accompanied by a commemorative ceremony in Ottawa.‎

September 19, 2022 will only be a general holiday for public servants, and optional for other federally-regulated employers in Canada. ‎Federally-regulated employers include employers in the banking, air transportation, ‎railway, broadcasting and telecommunication sectors. Employees who are employed in provincially-‎regulated businesses (which constitute the vast majority of businesses in the Canada) are not impacted ‎by Prime Minister Trudeau’s announcement. ‎

Provincial governments are divided on whether they will also provide a holiday.

The governments of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan have stated that provincially-regulated employees in those provinces will not be provided with time off on September 19, 2022.‎ Although, Manitoba will close all non-essential government services and offices that day, with schools, childcare and hospitals remaining open. 

The governments of Nova Scotia, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador have designated September 19, 2022 a holiday for public employees and empowered provincially-regulated private sector employers in those provinces to decide whether to give their workers the day off.

The government of PEI has indicated that provincially-regulated employees in that province will be provided with time off on September 19, 2022 and the day will be treated like other statutory holidays as outlined in the Employment Standards Act (PEI).

Prime Minster Trudeau has stated that the Federal Government is in discussions with territorial governments regarding the holiday, so there will likely be further announcements in the coming days.

We will update this post as more details regarding September 19, 2022 come in.‎

For further information please contact any of the members of the DLA Piper Canadian Employment and Labour Law Service Group listed here.

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