Are you wondering how many days in a row you can work in Canada?

Imagine that you have just landed a new job after a long and tireless search. You hit it off with the boss at the interview, who offers you a position with a decent wage, a flexible schedule, and health and dental benefits.

You are slated to start the following Monday morning and plan to cut loose on Friday night after a long, hard first week at work. But then the boss approaches you as you’re about to leave for the weekend, telling you he needs you to come in tomorrow, the next day, and the next day.

They’re short-staffed, he says, and they can’t go on without an extra set of hands. You relent and cancel your weekend plans, afraid that refusing will disappoint your new boss and let the rest of the team down. But then you begin to wonder, is this legal? He wants me to work eight days without a day off.

How many days in a row can you work in Canada?

Answering that question is not as easy as one might think. It depends on your work, where you live, and whether you’re a union member governed by a collective agreement or an independent contractor.

It also depends on whether your workplace is federally regulated or under the purview of a provincial government.

Federally Regulated Workplaces

Suppose Canada’s federal government regulates your profession. In that case, it falls under the Canada Labour Code, with some exceptions for certain employees and professionals for the “hours of work” regulations, including managers, superintendents, architects, dentists, engineers, lawyers, and medical professionals.

According to Employment and Social Development Canada, standard hours of work for employees or student interns are eight hours a day for a 24-hour period or 40 hours per week.

“You are entitled to one full day of rest each week, usually on a Sunday. You are also entitled to breaks and rest periods,” according to the ESDC website. “Any hours worked more than the standard hours are considered overtime hours.”

Again, there are some exceptions for certain workers in certain industries, including truck drivers, shipping employees, railway tradespeople, and commission-based sales employees in broadcasting and banking.

Do employees have the right to refuse overtime?

Well, yes and no. Suppose you have family obligations, like caring for a sick relative or being responsible for getting your kids to school. In that case, you can refuse an employer’s request for you to work overtime, though that right comes with a caveat, according to the ESDC website.

Before refusing overtime, you must take reasonable steps to deal with these family responsibilities in some other way.

The website states that if, despite your efforts, you are still required to meet those family responsibilities during the overtime period, you can only then refuse overtime.

As with most government regulations, exceptions abound in certain situations. For example, you can’t refuse to work if your employer finds itself in a “situation [it] could not reasonably anticipate and that presents … imminent or serious threats.”

Those threats include danger to life, health or safety of a person, property damage, or “serious interference with the normal operation of the employer.”

Is it illegal to work seven days a week in Canada?

For most federally regulated employees, the maximum number of hours they can work in one week is 48, which can only be “exceeded in exceptional circumstances.”

Employers who want you to work more than that, say eight days in a row for eight hours a day (56 hours total), would need an “excess hour permit” or be doing work in an emergency plan.

They can also structure the work under a so-called “averaging plan” or “modified work schedule.” Excess hour permits are only issued by the ESDC Head of Compliance and Enforcement, who must be convinced by employers that “exceptional circumstances make extra work necessary.”

For the most part, employers must apply for permits two months in advance and getting a permit “does not exempt the employer from the obligation to pay overtime.”

How Many Days You Can Legally Work in a Row in Canada

In Canada, each province sets employment standards for industries under provincial jurisdiction.

While many Canadian provinces have similar legislation regulating employment standards for how many days in a row you can legally work, slight differences exist and place obligations on employees and employers to comply with the law.

British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act

In British Columbia, employment regulations require employers to give employees “a minimum number of hours free from work between shifts, on a weekly and daily basis.”

Employers in B.C., for instance, must ensure that workers have “at least 32 consecutive hours free from work each week” or pay overtime during that period equal to one and a half times their regular hourly wage.

The B.C. government website provides two hypothetical examples of overtime pay being required. The first is a fictional employee named Spencer who works seven consecutive days in a row but only amasses 34 hours in that week.

Since he didn’t have the required 32 consecutive hours off, the employer is responsible for four hours of overtime.

The second example concerns another fictional employee named Diane, who works seven days a week, amassing 54 hours, for which her employer pays time and a half on 14.

Like Canada’s federal employment standards, British Columbia’s employment standards differ for unionized workplaces, independent contractors, and members of certain professions, including architects, accountants, and healthcare professionals.

Alberta Employment Standards

In Alberta, employees can work 12 hours a day, with exceptions. Employees are also entitled to various breaks, depending on the length of shifts. Like in British Columbia, employees must be given at least one day of rest a week.

The 12-consecutive-hour rule has certain exceptions for workplace accidents, “unforeseeable or unpreventable circumstances,” or if the employer has what’s known as a variance, which authorizes workplaces to structure shifts in other ways. Employers must also notify employees when their shifts begin and end with posted notices that workers can see.

Alberta employment standards also allow employers to combine work weeks, requiring two days off in a row after two weeks of working.

Manitoba Employment Standards

In Manitoba, standard work hours are 40 hours per week or eight hours a day. Any time employees work over the standard, employers must pay overtime wage rates.

Exceptions, however, mean those standards don’t apply to some regions of the construction industry, landscaping businesses, unionized workplaces, companies with flextime or averaging agreements, and election officials.

Like other provinces, Manitoba requires employees to have at least one day of rest each week, but the day off doesn’t necessarily have to fall on the same day.

According to the Manitoba government, “in practice, this means employees could work up to 12 days in a row in two weeks if the days of rest occur at the beginning of the first week and the end of the second week.”

Saskatchewan Employment Standards

In Saskatchewan, employees who typically work 20 hours or more a week must be given at least one day off unless they’re fighting forest or prairie fires, similar to other provinces’ emergency exemptions from employment regulations. Different standards exist for retail workers, who must be given two days off every seven days, on weekends “whenever possible.”

However, this standard does not apply to small retailers with fewer than ten employees or part-time workers who work less than 20 hours a week. Like most provinces, Saskatchewan requires employers to pay overtime after 40 hours in a regular week.

Employees must also consent to work more than 44 hours a week and cannot be reprimanded for refusing overtime unless in emergency situations.

How many days work in a row in Ontario?

For Canada’s most populous province of Ontario, the provincial government places daily and weekly limits on how many hours an employee can work to eight hours “or the number of hours in an established regular workday if it is longer than eight hours.” Daily limits can only be exceeded through written or electronic agreements between employers and workers.

The province also caps the number of hours worked in a week at 48. Even if the employee agrees to more daily or weekly hours, employers are obligated to pay overtime if those limits are exceeded. Employers must also give employees at least one day off each week.

Quebec Employment Standards

The standard workweek in Quebec is 40 hours, after which employers must pay overtime. However, that standard differs for certain workers such as security guards, sawmill employees, and people in remote areas not connected to the province’s road network.

Unlike other provinces, though, employees in Quebec must be given 32 consecutive hours of “rest” a week rather than 24 straight hours as required by several other provinces. Overtime rates in Quebec are the same as most other provinces, requiring workers to be paid one and a half times their regular wage or, as it’s better known, time and a half.

Employment Standards in Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island’s employment regulations are somewhat unique in that the “standard workweek” is 48 hours, rather than 40 hours as in most other Canadian jurisdictions. Employers are only required to pay time and a half after 48 hours. Employees can also “bank” overtime hours and take them as paid time off.

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, workers in Prince Edward Island must be given one day off in a seven-day workweek, the day off being Sunday when possible. The island province, like Saskatchewan, also has rules unique to retail workers, who can refuse to work any Sundays under somewhat anachronistic “Sunday Shopping” regulations.

Employment Standards in Nunavut

Nunavut’s standards are pretty typical, with eight-hour workdays and 40-hour work weeks requiring at least one day off on Sundays “whenever practical.” However, Nunavut allows employees to work 10 or 60 hours a day. Employers must apply to a provincial labour standards officer for a permit if they want workers to exceed that limit.

Employment Standards in the Northwest Territories

In the Northwest Territories, typical workweeks are 40 hours at eight hours per day. Employees must be given at least one day off a week, and they must be consecutive days off if the employee works for two or three weeks. Working time is also capped at 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week unless an employer has a permit to exceed that limit.

New Brunswick Employment Regulations

The province of New Brunswick entitles workers to one day off a week and Sundays if possible. However, according to the CFIB, employers are only required to pay time and a half after 44 hours in a workweek.

Employment Standards in the Yukon

In the Yukon, employers must give workers at least two full “days of rest” in a workweek, but in certain situations, employees can be required to work for several weeks without days off.

So, getting back to the original question of just how many days in a row you can legally work in Canada, the answers vary from province to province. Suppose you’re still confused and want to speak with a legal professional about your rights as an employee or an employer. In that case, Clearway can connect you to a lawyer who can tailor their advice to your needs and circumstances.

With so many regulations, rules, and exceptions in Canadian employment standards, it’s essential to have the right people doing the work so that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of your labour.