Federally regulated workplaces: the official figures for 2026
These are all the figures of jurisdictions.federal in the data file: 12 loose figures and five tables with 28 rows, each with the statute it comes from, when it took effect and how far it has been verified.
Updated · Figures verified against the statutes of each jurisdiction · see all figures and their sources · what's new
It is one of the 14 pages of the Jurisdictions block, inside official figures. The raw data is in legal-data-2026.json.
What this block holds
These are the figures for federally regulated employees, covered by the Canada Labour Code rather than a provincial Act: the notice ladder in section 230, severance pay in section 235, group termination in section 212, vacation in section 184, the ten general holidays in section 166, final pay under sections 247 and 188, and the complaint deadline in section 251.01. The layoff rules come from the Canada Labour Standards Regulations, s. 30.
Under federal rules, two payments can come due when a job ends. Notice, or wages in lieu, starts at two weeks after three months of continuous employment and climbs a week a year from three years to eight. Severance pay comes on top after 12 months of service: 2 days of wages per completed year, never less than 5 days, with no ceiling. Vacation pay is a percentage of wages in three steps, reaching 8% at ten years, and a group termination of 50 or more employees calls for 16 weeks' notice.
The Validity column records the amendments behind these rows: severance from December 15, 2012; the complaint rule and vacation pay on leaving from September 1, 2019; group termination from January 1, 2021; the holiday list from August 3, 2021; and the current notice rule from February 1, 2024. None of them is indexed.
How to read the table
Each row reads across. Figure says what the number governs, Value gives it, Source cites the Code or regulation, Validity dates the version in force, and Status records the check. Take the severance minimum: 5 days, s. 235, from 2012-12-15, Verified. Verified means Sergio read the figure in the Code. A Secondary source row would carry a number the site derived, working in view; Not yet verified would mean the site holds it back from every other page. Here, every row is Verified.
A federal layoff is not a termination if it lasts three months or less. It can run longer without becoming one if there's a written recall date within six months, recall rights under a collective agreement, a minimum work guarantee, continuing payments or benefits, or a strike or lockout. Which one fits depends on your facts, and the dollar value of notice and severance depends on your wages.
Where the site uses these figures
The guide for federally regulated employees and the notice and severance calculator run on this table, and the difference between termination pay and severance pay shows how the two federal payments stack. The group rule is compared in mass layoffs across Canada, section 188 in vacation pay owed when you leave, and the recall routes in layoff limits by jurisdiction. For benefits, see the Employment Insurance guide.
Status: Verified = read in the primary source; Secondary source = worked out by us from official figures, arithmetic shown; Not yet verified = not confirmed in the primary source, and so not published as a firm figure on any other page. The detail is in rule three of the methodology.
Federally regulated workplaces jurisdictions.federal
| Figure | Value | Source | Validity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal notice starts at two weeks, not one: three months of continuous employment already buys the full two weeks.federal.notice.qualifying_service | 3 months | Canada Labour Code, s. 230 — Employer's duty to give notice or wages in lieu | From 2024-02-01 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
The federal jurisdiction is one of only two in Canada with a statutory severance pay separate from notice or wages in lieu; the other is Ontario. It is paid on top of the notice entitlement.federal.severance.exists | Yes | Canada Labour Code, s. 235 — Severance pay, minimum rate | From 2012-12-15 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Federal · severance · service minimumfederal.severance.service_minimum | 12 months | Canada Labour Code, s. 235 — Severance pay, minimum rate | From 2012-12-15 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Federal · severance · per yearfederal.severance.per_year | 2 days | Canada Labour Code, s. 235 — Severance pay, minimum rate | From 2012-12-15 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
The five-day floor is what every employee with one or two completed years of service receives, because two days a year does not overtake five days until the third completed year.federal.severance.minimum | 5 days | Canada Labour Code, s. 235 — Severance pay, minimum rate | From 2012-12-15 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
The Canada Labour Code sets no ceiling on severance pay. Ontario caps its severance pay at 26 weeks; the federal formula just keeps adding two days a year.federal.severance.maximum | None | Canada Labour Code, s. 235 — Severance pay, minimum rate | From 2012-12-15 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Federal · group termination · thresholdfederal.group_termination.threshold | 50 employees | Canada Labour Code, s. 212 — Notice of group termination | From 2021-01-01 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
The 50 terminations must be simultaneous or fall inside any four-week period at the same industrial establishment.federal.group_termination.window | 4 weeks | Canada Labour Code, s. 212 — Notice of group termination | From 2021-01-01 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Ten general holidays: more than most provinces, though British Columbia, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut each name eleven. Family Day and the provincial August holidays are not on it.federal.holidays.count | 10 | Canada Labour Code, s. 166 — Definition of general holiday | From 2021-08-03 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Thirty days runs from the moment the entitlement arose, which for wages in lieu of notice and severance pay is the end of the employment.federal.final_pay.days_after_termination | 30 days | Canada Labour Code, s. 247 — Payment of wages | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
The Code uses the same 30-day deadline whether you quit or the employer ended the job. Quitting removes the notice and severance entitlements, but not the vacation pay: section 188 applies whenever an employee ceases to be employed.federal.final_pay.days_after_quit | 30 days | Canada Labour Code, s. 188 — Vacation pay when employment ends | From 2019-09-01 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
For money owed, the six months run from the last day the employer was supposed to pay, not from your last day of work. For anything else, they run from the day the subject-matter of the complaint arose.federal.complaint.deadline | 6 months | Canada Labour Code, s. 251.01 — Making of complaint and time limit | From 2019-09-01 | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 years | 3 years | 2 weeks |
| 3 years | 4 years | 3 weeks |
| 4 years | 5 years | 4 weeks |
| 5 years | 6 years | 5 weeks |
| 6 years | 7 years | 6 weeks |
| 7 years | 8 years | 7 weeks |
| 8 years | — | 8 weeks |
Source: Canada Labour Code, s. 230 — Employer's duty to give notice or wages in lieu. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Label | Max value | Max unit | Window value | Window unit | Condition | Source | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic limit | 3 | months | — | — | — | fed_clsr_s30 | the term of the lay-off is three months or less |
| With a written recall date | 6 | months | — | — | Your employer told you in writing, at or before the lay-off, that you would be recalled on a fixed date or inside a fixed period no more than six months away, and then actually recalled you. | fed_clsr_s30 | notifies the employee in writing at or before the time of the lay-off that he will be recalled to work on a fixed date or within a fixed period neither of which shall be more than six months from the date of the lay-off |
| With recall rights under a collective agreement | 12 | months | — | — | You keep recall rights under a collective agreement for the whole of the lay-off. | fed_clsr_s30 | the term of the lay-off is more than three months but not more than 12 months and the employee, throughout the term of the lay-off, maintains recall rights pursuant to a collective agreement |
| Under a minimum work guarantee | 12 | months | — | — | The lay-off is compulsory under a minimum work guarantee in a collective agreement. | fed_clsr_s30 | the term of the lay-off is 12 months or less and the lay-off is mandatory pursuant to a minimum work guarantee in a collective agreement |
| While payments or benefits continue | — | — | — | — | Past three months the lay-off is still not a termination while you keep receiving payments your employer agreed to, or pension or group insurance contributions, or supplementary unemployment benefits. | fed_clsr_s30 | the employee continues during the term of the lay-off to receive payments from his employer in an amount agreed on by the employee and his employer |
| Strike or lockout | — | — | — | — | A lay-off caused by a strike or a lockout is not a termination, however long it lasts. | fed_clsr_s30 | the lay-off is a result of a strike or lockout |
Source: Canada Labour Standards Regulations, s. 30 — Lay-offs that are not termination. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Employees from | Employees to | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | — | 16 weeks |
Source: Canada Labour Code, s. 212 — Notice of group termination. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks | Pay percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 years | 1 year | 0 weeks | 4% |
| 1 year | 5 years | 2 weeks | 4% |
| 5 years | 10 years | 3 weeks | 6% |
| 10 years | — | 4 weeks | 8% |
Source: Canada Labour Code, s. 184 — Annual vacation with pay. Reviewed on October 19, 2026.
| Name | Date rule |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | January 1 |
| Good Friday | The Friday before Easter Sunday |
| Victoria Day | The Monday before May 25 |
| Canada Day | July 1 |
| Labour Day | The first Monday in September |
| National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | September 30 |
| Thanksgiving Day | The second Monday in October |
| Remembrance Day | November 11 |
| Christmas Day | December 25 |
| Boxing Day | December 26 |
Source: Canada Labour Code, s. 166 — Definition of general holiday. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.