Christmas Day in Canada: Federal and Provincial Holiday Rules and Canadian Traditions

Christmas Day falls on Friday, December 25, 2026. It is one of the 10 general holidays in the Canada Labour Code and it is also a public holiday under provincial law, so it is one of the few days that is off for most of the country at the same time.

The day after, Boxing Day, is where the rules start to differ between Ottawa and the provinces.

Federal or provincial: who decides the holiday

Canada has two layers of holiday rules. The Canada Labour Code lists 10 general holidays for people who work for federally regulated employers: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Most other workers follow the employment standards law of their own province or territory, and each one keeps its own list. Ontario's Employment Standards Act has nine public holidays. Quebec's list is different again: it includes the Fête nationale on June 24 and leaves out Boxing Day.

The Canada Revenue Agency also treats Christmas Day and Boxing Day as public holidays, and it warns that tax due dates can shift depending on where you live, because several provinces and territories have holidays of their own.

Canadian Christmas traditions with a story

The Huron Carol. Known in Wendat as Jesous Ahatonhia and in French as the Noël huron, this carol was written down in the late 18th century by a priest at La Jeune-Lorette, near Quebec City, from the singing of a Huron. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, its tune is related to a 16th-century French song, and the English words most Canadians know, "'Twas in the moon of wintertime", were written by Jesse Edgar Middleton in 1926.

A tree for Boston. On 6 December 1917, two ships collided in Halifax Harbour and caused the Halifax Explosion. Boston sent medical staff and relief supplies to help. More than a century later, Nova Scotia still sends the city a Christmas tree every year as a thank you, and it is displayed on Boston Common.

Writing to Santa at H0H 0H0

Canada Post has answered children's letters to Santa for more than 40 years, and it now sorts over one million of them each year. The address is Santa Claus, North Pole, H0H 0H0, Canada. No stamp is needed for a letter mailed inside Canada, but you do need to include a return address so Santa can write back.

Canada Post publishes a mailing deadline in early December each year. If you are planning a letter, check its Santa letter page before you send it.