Canada lags the world in holidays, time off work: report

The Civic Holiday is not a statutory holiday in Alberta, so we have to work it. We only get a few long week ends in our short summer, so if we get rained out a couple weekends, well there goes summer.

The idea of getting an extra holiday in fébruary was tossed around a while ago.It would have been called 'family day'. Between new year's day and Easter we have no breaks and this holiday would make a lot of difference

20% of people are workaholics. They get taxed to death. 60% of the population only talk about vacations, weekends, stat holidays and retirement. The other 20% don't do anything but feed off the tax base.
Why do people wonder about the state of the economy?

Hey Mario, we do get that, 3d monday in feb...

Remembrance Day, November 11th, needs to be a stat holiday for all Canadians. It's shameful that it isn't.

So Canadians have much fewer holidays than Germans or the French. I wonder who benefits more from that. The Canadian worker, or the people who owns the business that doesn't have to let it's employee's spend time with their families when they are young?

I am happy for those countries who treat there people well! I think everyone should have more time off - or at least the option.

Life is way too short. I hear in those countries they work to live where North Americans have been trained to live to work!

I think that is the big difference.

We have too many holidays now. No need for so many days off. This country runs on work not how many days off we can get away with.

Only if everything is open.What's the point of having a holiday,if you can't go do anything."Hey lets go to the Public pool".Nope that's closed."What about the ice rink?" Nope that's closed."The Mall?' Nope that's Closed."Go to a Movie?" Closed. Closed.Closed.Closed.
Hmmm.Well I could do some WORK around the house I haven't finished.Because I've been to busy WORKING.
Happy Slavour day

I think in New Brunswick we should get a family day and I think February would be a good month as we don't get a holiday or (Stat) from December to April.

I totally agree with fraz, Remebrance Day should be a stat holiday! And always should have been!

Canadians definitely need more time off. All we do is work and we never have time for ourselves and we forget to appreciate the life we've been given and all the things we CAN do. We all get so tied up in stress having to work long hours just to make ends meat (most of us atleast) and by the time we finally unwind on the weekend it's already Sunday and guess what? You get to go back to work AGAIN the very next day. Something needs to be done, I think everyone in this country must feel burnt out from time to time or maybe even most of the time like myself.That one extra day on a long weekend makes a HUGE difference. I say more long weekends all year! We're a rich country.. I'm sure we can afford to do this. Make it happen!

Of course we need more Holidays ,Nov.11 should absolutely be a holiday. We are losing all the people who fought for this country and we do nothing to honor them

I'd have absolutely no problem if all non essential services were closed on stat holidays. No one needs to be able to go shopping 365 days a year. I'd rather spend a day hanging out with friends and family, reading a book or hiking. There's tons of stuff to do. I'm all for another stat in february. Honestly I'm lucky if I even get 2 days off in a row for my "weekend" so an extra stat would be welcome.

Sept. 13th - my b/day. Everyone should celebrate it with me.

We definately need more holidays, for ex: Remembrance Day in honour of our people who fought for this country, Easter Monday to remember all the good God did for us beside Easter Sunday. The Stress is all around for people who work all the time, trying to make ends meet, people living from pay cheque to pay cheque. If people could just relax and have some family time, maybe just maybe there would be less divorces and break ups.

most canadians can't afford to take more holidays. we have to pay for all our government employees, their ridiculous benefits, and all of their payed holidays.

Here in New Brunswick , Rememberance Day is a Stat Hoilday.. Some people don't celebrate it as is. My Father fought in WW2 and I thanked him everyday for it.

New Brunswick celebrates Remeberance Day as a Stat holiday. My Father fought in WW2 and thankful everyday. He fought for Canada to be free. We are losing all of our Veterans and we should Honour them "Proudly". Plus their closing some Legions here in New Brunswick with lack of support.

Pete's obviously a rich slave owner, er I mean business owner that has to whine about how many days he has to pay people to make sure they get the recharges they need to continue working at their sh-tty jobs that they only do because it costs way to much to live. So much for being a free country.
Alberta does not get a stat holiday in Feb. It's usually an optional one. You can take Feb as a stat (Family Day, or as we like to call it Don Getty's Kid's On Drug's Day), or you can take the Aug stat,
but you can't take both and expect to be paid for both. However, MOST good employers will give both off paid anyways, cuz they know the value of a rested and happy employee (unlike Pete the slave driver who probably also only hires immigrant workers who will work for less than minimum wage, especially now since the non-conservative government omnibussed that legislation through).

I think 4 day work weeks with shift overlap (like they do in Germany, etc) would be appropriate>
We need more family time and personal time. Every weekend should be 3 days.

We are turning into an automated society anyways, no sense in keeping people working when machines and computers are going to take over most menial task jobs anyways.

The Ontario Employment Standards Act allows for only 2 weeks vacation per calendar year. A lot of companies, the one I work for included, follow these standards. Changes need to be made to the ESA enforcing employers to give extra time off for years served. I know people who have worked over 30 years with only 2 weeks vacation time. This is pitiful and a disgrace. How many weeks vacation do the MP's and others who enforce this act get each year? Does any political party out there have the guts to make changes? Just wondering.

Yeah right....give everyone another Louis Riel day. Who is going to pay the wages for everyone to be off on another stat holiday... This costs business so much money to give another day off. Who gives a crap about how many days England gets off. They only work a 37 hour week also..and they are lazy, I lived there, I know their work ethic...Its screw the company anyway you can. This is what drives business out of business...

Who pays for the day off...Not the NDP...its business owners, restaurants are hit hard by paying an extra day off because someone thinks Louis Riel was a hero, but he was a traitor. Its bull crap..No more holidays...lets get to work...we have 100 of thousands people on welfare that depend on us business people paying taxes so they can drive new F150s..gotta go, my second job shift starts...

I am another one that is not a slave driver. I was one that worked for a living. Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Rememberance Day and Christmas Day are all that are needed. I wasn't scared to work and earn my pay. Most people only look for the next day off instead of working. You want a pay check? Then work and earn it. I am not in favour of having immigrants working in our country instead of our own people.

Anyone who thinks all stores and services should be open on holidays needs a hobby or maybe a good book or needs to take a walk - the learning and exercise would probably do them good.

In Nova Scotia we have among the fewest holidays in Canada (no Family Day in February for us btw). For Pete who thinks we have too many holidays...just because you hate spending time with your family doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same way.

More holiday days-NO!

Everyone deserves to have as much time with their families as possible - even those non essential service workers who already work thankless jobs and are forced give up nights, weekends, stat and non stat holidays in order to keep a job to support the families they rarely get to see. All because of those 9-5er's out there who insist on malls and coffee shops etc. be open for their convenience at all times so they don't have to go through the effort of making their own coffee or put in some effort to discover activities that create lasting memories in their own families. Both essential and non essential service workers give up so much for us and deserve our greatest gratitude, these people need even more time off for stress relief. As for our current govt.they care nothing about the well being of it's people and are very adept at manipulation....it equates to us working more and govt. working less.

My father was a WWII vet. Canada now has new veterans. We NEED to have a day of REMEMBRANCE for the young and the old. LEST WE FORGET. Make November 11 a National Holiday!