Thanksgiving Day is Monday, October 12, 2026, one of Ontario's nine public holidays under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). Most employees of a dental practice qualify for public holiday pay, including dental hygienists. Dentists employed by a practice do not, because Ontario lists dentists as exempt from the ESA's public holiday rules. Under the ESA, public holiday pay equals regular wages plus vacation pay payable for the four work weeks before the holiday week, divided by 20.
Is your payroll set up for the long weekend? As of October 2026, it is still tempting to pay a holiday with a rule of thumb, such as "one normal day's pay." Ontario's formula often gives a different number. The gap is easy to miss with part-time staff, hygienists who work variable days, and anyone who took vacation in September. With Thanksgiving falling on October 12 this year, now is a good time to check how your practice calculates holiday pay.
Who at a Dental Practice Qualifies for Public Holiday Pay?
Ontario publishes a list of jobs with ESA exemptions or special rules. For dental practices, that list draws a line many practice owners don't expect.
- Dentists and dentistry students: Ontario's guide says they are not entitled to public holidays, minimum wage, overtime, vacation with pay, or several other ESA standards. For an associate you employ, the ESA's public holiday rules don't apply, so any paid holidays depend on what their agreement provides.
- Dental hygienists: The only exemption Ontario lists for dental hygienists concerns sick, family responsibility or bereavement leave, where taking it "would be professional misconduct or abandoning your duty." The public holiday rules apply to them.
- Dental technologists and denturists: They have the same narrow leave exemption as hygienists, so the public holiday rules apply to them too.
- Dental assistants, receptionists, office managers and sterilization staff: No dental-specific exemption appears for these roles in Ontario's guide, so the general public holiday rules apply.
Two more facts close common loopholes. First, Ontario states that qualified employees "can be full time, part time, permanent or on term contract. It does not matter how recently they were hired, or how many days they worked before the public holiday." A hygienist who started last week can qualify. Second, Ontario's public holidays guide names hotels, motels and tourist resorts; restaurants and taverns; hospitals and nursing homes; and continuous operations as the businesses that can require holiday work. Dental offices are not named. Unless your practice falls into one of those groups, plan on getting the employee's written or electronic agreement before scheduling them on Thanksgiving.
Pro Tip: Whether an associate counts as an employee or an independent contractor isn't decided by the job title alone. If you are unsure which applies, get advice from an employment lawyer before Thanksgiving payroll runs.
The Qualification Test: Ontario's "Last and First" Rule
An employee generally qualifies for holiday pay unless they fail, without reasonable cause, to work all of their last regularly scheduled shift before the holiday, or all of their first regularly scheduled shift after it. That shift does not have to be the day right before or after the holiday. If a hygienist normally works Tuesday to Thursday, the last shift before Thanksgiving is Thursday, October 8, and the first shift after is Tuesday, October 13.
Ontario says an employee generally has "reasonable cause" when something beyond their control prevents them from working. The employee is responsible for showing it. Employees on vacation or on leave are judged by the last shift before and the first shift after their time away.
How to Calculate Public Holiday Pay Correctly
Ontario's formula is: all regular wages the employee earned in the four work weeks before the work week containing the holiday, plus all vacation pay payable for those four weeks, divided by 20.
Three details catch practices out:
1. "Regular wages" excludes several pay types
Ontario lists the exclusions: overtime pay, vacation pay (which is added separately), public holiday pay, premium pay, domestic or sexual violence leave pay, termination pay, severance pay and termination of assignment pay. If you include overtime from a busy September, you will overpay. If you count only scheduled hours and leave out other regular wages, you may underpay.
2. The four weeks follow your work week, not the calendar
Ontario says the period is "based on the employer's work week and is not necessarily a calendar week." If your work week runs Monday to Sunday, the four weeks to use cover September 14 to October 11. If it starts on another day, count back from the end of the work week before the holiday week.
3. Vacation pay depends on how you pay it
- Vacation pay on every cheque: include at least 4% of the employee's wages for the four weeks, or the higher percentage, such as 6%, if they are entitled to it.
- Vacation pay before or during the vacation: include it only if the employee was on vacation during the four weeks.
- Lump-sum vacation pay on set dates: include it only if one of those dates falls in the four-week period.
As a reminder, ESA vacation pay is at least 4% of wages for employees with under five years of service and at least 6% for those with five years or more.
A worked example from Ontario's guide
Ontario's guide gives this example. A part-time employee works three days a week at $120 CAD a day and receives 4% vacation pay on every cheque. Regular wages for four weeks come to $1,440 CAD. Vacation pay payable is $57.60 CAD. The sum, $1,497.60 CAD, divided by 20 gives $74.88 CAD in public holiday pay, not the $120 CAD a "normal day" rule would pay. Because the formula divides by 20, an employee who works fewer than five days a week usually receives less than one full shift's pay.
Pro Tip: Build the formula once into a spreadsheet tab with four week-by-week wage columns, an excluded-pay column and a vacation-pay line. Then check one employee by hand with Ontario's Employment Standards Self-Service Tool before you trust it for the whole team.
What If Your Practice Opens on Thanksgiving?
If your practice in Scarborough, Vaughan, Brampton or anywhere else in Ontario opens on the holiday and an eligible employee agrees, electronically or in writing, to work on Thanksgiving, the ESA offers two options:
- Regular wages for the hours worked, plus a substitute day off paid at public holiday pay; or
- Public holiday pay plus premium pay (1½ times the regular rate) for every hour worked, with no substitute day. This option also needs the employee's written or electronic agreement.
Ontario's worked example shows option 2. An employee earns $20 CAD an hour, eight hours a day, five days a week, takes vacation pay when the vacation is taken, and was not on vacation in the four weeks before the holiday. If they work an eight-hour holiday shift under option 2, they receive $160 CAD in public holiday pay plus $240 CAD in premium pay, for a total of $400 CAD.
Some rules to keep in mind:
- Hours paid at premium pay on the holiday don't count toward overtime.
- If an employee agrees to work but works only some of the agreed hours without reasonable cause, they get only premium pay for the hours worked. They lose holiday pay and any substitute day.
- A substitute day must fall within three months of the holiday, or up to 12 months if the employee agrees electronically or in writing.
- Before the holiday, give the employee a written statement naming the holiday being substituted, the substitute date, and the date you gave them the statement.
When Thanksgiving Falls on an Employee's Day Off
A hygienist who never works Mondays still has a holiday entitlement if they qualify under the last-and-first rule. When a public holiday falls on a day the employee doesn't normally work, or during their vacation, Ontario says they get either a substitute day off with public holiday pay or, if they agree electronically or in writing, public holiday pay with no substitute day. Whichever option you use, record it.
Employees on leave are covered too, but the formula can work out to zero. Ontario's example of an employee on pregnancy and parental leave explains why: Employment Insurance benefits "are not considered 'wages'," so a holiday with no wages or vacation pay in the previous four weeks produces $0 CAD in holiday pay.
October 1 Also Changed Ontario's Minimum Wage
This is less likely to affect dental teams directly, and your Thanksgiving payroll may be one of the first to reflect the new rate. On October 1, 2026, Ontario's general minimum wage rose from $17.60 CAD to $17.95 CAD an hour. The student minimum wage is now $16.90 CAD. The province ties the increase to the Ontario Consumer Price Index, publishes any new rate on or before April 1, effective October 1. Compliance is checked per pay period. If you employ a student for sterilization help or a part-time front-desk trainee, check their rate. The student rate applies only to students under 18 who work 28 hours a week or less while school is in session, or who work during a school break or summer holidays. Dentists and dentistry students are exempt from minimum wage. The other dental roles on Ontario's list are not.
Your Thanksgiving Payroll Checklist
- Sort your team list into exempt roles (dentists and dentistry students) and covered roles.
- Write down each covered employee's last scheduled shift before October 12 and first scheduled shift after it.
- Pull regular wages for the four work weeks before Thanksgiving week, leaving out overtime and premium pay.
- Add vacation pay according to how you pay it.
- Divide by 20 and compare the result with what your payroll software calculated.
- If anyone is working on the 12th, keep their written agreement and, for substitute days, the written statement.
- Note that Easter Monday, the Civic Holiday in August and Remembrance Day are not ESA public holidays, so make sure your employee handbook doesn't promise more than you mean to.
If you get the calculation right once, every other holiday becomes routine. Ontario's rules have more exceptions than this post covers, so check edge cases against the official guide or with an employment lawyer. How does your practice handle holiday pay for hygienists who work variable days? We'd like to hear what works for you. Find more practice-management resources for dental professionals at ebiko.ca.
Sources
- Government of Ontario, Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act: Public holidays
- Government of Ontario, Industries and jobs with exemptions or special rules: EMS, healthcare and health professionals
- Government of Ontario, Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act: Minimum wage
- Government of Ontario, Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act: Vacation
- Canada Revenue Agency, Public holidays
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do dental hygienists in Ontario get paid for Thanksgiving?
Yes, if they qualify. Ontario's exemptions list doesn't exempt dental hygienists from public holiday rules. A hygienist who works their last scheduled shift before Thanksgiving and their first scheduled shift after it, or has reasonable cause for missing one, is entitled to public holiday pay.
Q: Are associate dentists entitled to public holiday pay in Ontario?
Not under the ESA. Ontario lists dentists and dentistry students as not entitled to ESA public holidays, minimum wage, overtime or vacation with pay. Any paid holidays for an associate depend on what their agreement provides.
Q: How is public holiday pay calculated in Ontario?
Add all regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the holiday's work week to the vacation pay payable for those weeks, then divide by 20. Overtime, premium pay and certain other payments are excluded from regular wages.