National Patriots' Day (Journe nationale des patriotes) is a statutory paid holiday for most employees in the Canadian province of Quebec. Under the province's Act respecting labour standards, it is recognized as one of the official public holidays, mandating a paid day off for eligible workers.
The status as a statutory holiday means that employees who are entitled to the day off receive a holiday indemnity, which is typically equivalent to a regular day's pay. For individuals required to work on this day due to the nature of their operations, the law stipulates they must receive either their regular wages for the hours worked plus the holiday indemnity, or a compensatory paid leave. It is crucial to distinguish this observance from Patriots' Day, which is a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine in the United States, and is subject to different labor regulations.
Ultimately, whether an individual receives paid time off for this holiday is determined by jurisdiction. It is a legal entitlement for provincially regulated workers in Quebec. However, employees in Quebec who work in federally regulated industries, such as banking, transportation, and telecommunications, follow the calendar of federal public holidays, which does not include National Patriots' Day. Therefore, its applicability as a paid holiday is a matter of provincial, not federal, law.
