What are the holidays in the province of Quebec?

Holidays in the province of Quebec vs Canada

I know it seems strange to make this distinction, but few people know about the cultural differences between the province of Quebec and the rest of Canada. Therefore, it’s good to inform first-time sailors that the Francophone province is different from the rest of Canada not only in the spoken language (French), but also in its holidays.

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A curiosity about holidays in Canada (which also applies to Quebec) is the fact that all holidays falling on weekends (usually Sundays) are automatically transferred to the subsequent Monday. Something that definitely makes much more sense, but unfortunately isn’t adopted in Brazil.

Holidays in Canada and Quebec are also considered paid days off, so if you have to work on these days, be smart, because the amount paid for your hour of work won’t be the same. Usually, they will be listed in your employment contract, a somewhat weird thing in my opinion.

Important tip! The Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work provides you with monCalcul, a tool that helps establish the amounts an employee is entitled to according to their method of remuneration.

Religious influences on holidays in the province of Quebec

As the province was the first colony to be born in the icy northern lands, even before the English set foot on what would one day be called Canada, all the French religious culture came along in their ships and, as a consequence, the first embryo of a nation called New France was born in the region known today as Quebec.

Catholic as such, France left a huge legacy of religious traditions in the early days of Quebec’s foundation, which by the way, are very common to our Brazilian Catholicism. There is no shortage of churches to prove this. In Montreal alone, there are 600 of them.

READ ALSO: “Quebec for newly arrived Brazilians: Tips on local culture”

See also: Updated holiday calendar in Quebec.

On the other hand, colonies born as a result of the expansion of northern territories by the English were also strongly influenced by Anglicanism, leaving most of Canada under the domination of Protestantism.

The War

Conflicts between the French and English colonies also created distinct commemorative dates, since upon losing the Seven Years’ War, Quebec was annexed to English rule, becoming part of Canada.

For this reason, there is a feud between Quebec and the other provinces given the lack of recognition of English sovereignty. This is the reason why Quebec has a reputation for being separatist. They have already tried to separate from the rest of Canada at least three times in history. All without success.

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Holiday calendar in Quebec: 2026 and 2027

Before going into the details of each date, here is the final calendar of the 8 mandatory and paid holidays under the Act respecting labour standards (the official CNESST list):

Holiday	2026	2027
Jour de l’An (New Year’s Day)	January 1st (Thursday)	January 1st (Friday)
Good Friday or Easter Monday	April 3rd or April 6th	March 26th or March 29th
Journée nationale des patriotes	May 18th (Monday)	May 24th (Monday)
Fête nationale du Québec (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day)	June 24th (Wednesday)	June 24th (Thursday)
Fête du Canada (Canada Day)	July 1st (Wednesday)	July 1st (Thursday)
Fête du Travail (Labour Day)	September 7th (Monday)	September 6th (Monday)
Action de grâce (Thanksgiving)	October 12th (Monday)	October 11th (Monday)
Noël (Christmas)	December 25th (Friday)	December 25th (Saturday)

Two points that make a difference in your paycheck:

1. In the case of Easter, the employer chooses whether to give Good Friday or Easter Monday. They are not obliged to give both. Some do, out of generosity or by collective agreement, but it is not law.
2. Dates such as November 11th (Remembrance Day) and September 30th (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) are recognized in Canada, but are not mandatory paid holidays in Quebec. If your employer gives you time off on these days, it’s a courtesy.

Besides these, many companies in Quebec also close on Christmas Eve (Dec 24) and New Year’s Eve (Dec 31), again, as a practice and not a legal obligation.

List of holidays in the province of Quebec

01. New Year’s Day

Name in Quebec: Jour de l’An

When: January 1st

This one needs no introduction, it is universal in almost all countries in the world and could not be left off the list of holidays in Quebec.

02. Good Friday and Easter

Name in Quebec: Vendredi saint et le lundi de Pâques

When: Varies every year - Check this calendar

This is up to your employer’s discretion to grant one or the other or even both. As explained at the beginning of the post, this is a Catholic holiday and carries enormous weight in the province of Quebec.

03. National Patriots’ Day

Name in Quebec: Journée nationale des patriotes

This holiday is celebrated only in Quebec because it is a day in memory of the Quebec soldiers who fought during the war against English rule. It always falls on a Monday before May 25th.

Long weekends Long weekends, which we are used to in Brazil, are also popular in Canada, however, Canadians take this quite seriously. When a holiday occurs on a Saturday or Sunday, it is common to move it to Monday.

04. National Holiday of Quebec

Name in Quebec: Fête nationale du Québec

When it will be this year: June 24th

Quebec’s national holiday, where Quebecois culture is celebrated, and also another important religious holiday, that of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the province’s patron saint. To the happiness of northeasterners like me, it is the same Saint John holiday as in my city.

Check the UPDATED holiday CALENDAR now

05. Canada Day

Name in Quebec: Fête du Canada

When: July 1st

The only federal holiday adopted by the province of Quebec, usually when the date falls on a Sunday, the celebration is moved to the 2nd on a Monday. Remember the feud I mentioned at the beginning of the post, well, since a good part of Quebec’s population does not recognize this date due to ideological issues, the day passes like any normal one, without parties or celebrations.

Instead, the culture of the national moving day was created in protest against Canada’s Independence Day. On this date (the day when all lease agreements are signed and renewed) it is common to see hundreds of moving trucks traveling through the city with people going back and forth carrying furniture.

06. Labour Day

Name in Quebec: Fête du Travail

This is also a holiday that needs no introduction, as it is celebrated in many countries. Canada and the US share the same date which is always celebrated on the first Monday of September. As Brazilians, we are used to celebrating the date always on May 1st.

07. Thanksgiving

Name in Quebec: Action de grâces

Always celebrated on the 2nd Monday of October. This is a typical holiday from English religious culture that was incorporated into Quebec.

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08. Christmas

Name in Quebec: Jour de Noël

When: December 25th

Let’s agree that this one needs no introduction, right?

READ ALSO: “Quebec for newly arrived Brazilians: Tips on local culture”

And they still say that Brazil has a lot of holidays. Adding up all the long weekends, it can be said that Canada is undoubtedly the land of time off when it comes to holidays. Well folks, I hope I helped you with this information.

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See you in the next post! ;)