The Canada Labour Code is the federal statute that sets minimum employment rights — wages, hours, overtime, leaves, health and safety, and termination protections — for people who work in federally regulated industries such as banking, telecommunications, air and rail transport, and interprovincial trucking. It covers about 1.4 million workers in total, including the federal public service.1Government of Canada. Distribution of Employees in the Federal Public Sector and the Federally Regulated Private Sector Everyone else — roughly 94 percent of Canadian workers — is covered by provincial or territorial employment standards instead, so the first question the Code raises is whether it applies to you at all.
Who the Code Actually Covers
The Code reaches a defined list of industries that cross provincial or international boundaries or serve a national function. If your employer sits inside one of these sectors, federal rules apply; if not, your provincial employment standards act does.2Government of Canada. List of Federally Regulated Industries and Workplaces
- Airlines, airports, interprovincial and international trucking and bus services, cross-border railways, marine shipping, ferries, ports, and interprovincial tunnels, canals, and bridges
- Oil and gas pipelines that cross provincial or international borders
- Banks chartered federally, including authorized foreign banks
- Telephone, internet, cable, radio, and television providers
- Grain elevators, feed and seed mills, and grain-seed cleaning plants
- Most Crown corporations, including Canada Post
- Indigenous band councils and organizations governed by the Indian Act, for administration and governance functions3Government of Canada. Guide on Jurisdiction of Indigenous Organizations
Jurisdiction is decided by the nature of the employer, not the job. A payroll clerk at an airline is federally regulated because the airline is a federal undertaking. A payroll clerk at a provincial retailer is not.
How the Code Is Organized
The Code has four parts, and knowing which one governs your issue helps you find the right rule and the right office.4Government of Canada. Canada Labour Code: Overview and Jurisdiction
- Part I covers industrial relations: union certification, collective bargaining, strikes, and lockouts. Disputes go to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
- Part II covers occupational health and safety.
- Part III covers labour standards — wages, hours, vacation, holidays, leaves, and termination.
- Part IV sets the administrative monetary penalties for violations.
Parts II and III are where most day-to-day workplace rights live, and the Labour Program at Employment and Social Development Canada enforces them.5Government of Canada. Labour Program
Minimum Wage, Hours, and Overtime
The federal minimum wage is $18.15 per hour as of April 1, 2026, and it is adjusted annually by the Consumer Price Index.6Government of Canada. Government of Canada Raises the Federal Minimum Wage If the province or territory where you work has a higher minimum wage, your employer must pay that higher rate.
Standard hours are 8 in a day and 40 in a week. Time beyond that is overtime, paid at 1.5 times your regular rate, or, alternatively, banked as paid time off at 1.5 hours for every overtime hour worked.7Government of Canada. Hours of Work – Federally Regulated Workplaces8Justice Laws Website. Canada Labour Code – Section 174
Managers, employees who exercise management functions, and members of certain professions (architecture, dentistry, engineering, law, and medicine) are excluded from the hours-of-work rules and have no statutory right to overtime pay. Whether someone counts as a manager turns on actual responsibilities — decision-making authority, control over hiring and firing, budget authority — not job title.9Government of Canada. Excluded Employees
Vacation and General Holidays
Federally regulated employees get 10 paid general holidays each year: 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.10Government of Canada. Annual Vacations and General Holidays for Employees Working for Federally Regulated Industries and Workplaces
Vacation grows with tenure at the same employer:11Justice Laws Website. Canada Labour Code – Section 184
- After 1 year: 2 weeks of vacation and 4% vacation pay
- After 5 consecutive years: 3 weeks and 6%
- After 10 consecutive years: 4 weeks and 8%
Medical and Bereavement Leave
Section 239 allows up to 27 weeks of unpaid medical leave for illness, injury, organ or tissue donation, or quarantine. On the paid side, you earn 3 paid sick days after your first 30 days of employment and then accumulate 1 additional paid day at the start of each subsequent month, capped at 10 paid sick days per calendar year. Unused paid days carry into the next year but reduce what you accrue that year.12Justice Laws Website. Canada Labour Code – Section 239
Bereavement leave runs up to 10 days when an immediate family member dies, with the first 3 days paid once you have 3 consecutive months of service. If the death is that of your child, or your spouse’s or common-law partner’s child, the leave extends to up to 8 weeks.13Government of Canada. Types of Leaves You Can Receive as an Employee Working in Federally Regulated Industries and Workplaces
Termination, Severance, and Unjust Dismissal
If your employer ends your employment, you are entitled to at least 2 weeks’ written notice. After 3 or more years of service, the minimum rises to 1 week per completed year, capped at 8 weeks. Your employer can pay wages in lieu of notice instead. Notice is not required if you have worked fewer than 3 consecutive months, if you quit, if you are dismissed for just cause, or if a fixed-term contract simply expires.14Government of Canada. Termination, Layoff or Dismissal
Once you have 12 consecutive months of employment, you also get severance pay on termination: the greater of 2 days’ wages per completed year of service or 5 days’ wages. Severance is not owed for layoffs that don’t result in termination, expired fixed-term contracts, resignations, or dismissals for just cause.14Government of Canada. Termination, Layoff or Dismissal
If you have at least 12 months of continuous service, are not covered by a collective agreement, and are not a manager, you can file an unjust dismissal complaint. The filing deadline is 90 days from the date of dismissal. Complaints go to any Labour Program office.15Government of Canada. 8 Unjust Dismissal That 90-day window closes faster than most people expect.
Health and Safety Rights
Part II puts the primary duty for preventing workplace injuries and occupational diseases on the employer, who must supply protective equipment, adequate training, and safe conditions.4Government of Canada. Canada Labour Code: Overview and Jurisdiction
Section 128 gives you the right to refuse to operate a machine, work in a place, or perform an activity if you have reasonable cause to believe it poses a danger to you or another employee.16Justice Laws Website. Canada Labour Code – Section 128 Your employer cannot discipline or fire you for exercising the refusal. The refusal itself triggers an investigation, and if you and the employer disagree on whether the danger exists, a government health and safety officer can be brought in.
Employers with 20 or more employees at a site must set up a workplace health and safety committee to investigate incidents, monitor compliance, and address safety concerns. Smaller workplaces have a single health and safety representative instead.17Justice Laws Website. Canada Labour Code – Section 135
Harassment and Violence Prevention
Since 2021, every federally regulated employer must have a harassment and violence prevention policy. When an occurrence is reported, the employer has 7 days to acknowledge the complaint and provide information about the process and your right to representation. The employer must then attempt a negotiated resolution within 45 days. If that fails, the next steps are conciliation (which requires agreement from both parties) or a formal investigation by a qualified investigator. The full process must wrap up within one year of the initial report, and all reported occurrences must be recorded and reported to the Labour Program, even those resolved internally.18Government of Canada. Employers: Workplace Harassment and Violence Occurrence – Resolve With the Complainant
How to Enforce Your Rights
Labour Program inspectors can enter workplaces, order compliance, and investigate complaints. Under Part IV, the Head of Compliance and Enforcement can impose administrative monetary penalties, with a ceiling of $250,000 for any single violation. Baseline amounts are tiered by employer size and violation severity, running from $200 at the low end to $50,000 for the most serious violations by large businesses, and doubling for employers with a history of non-compliance.19Government of Canada. Administrative Monetary Penalties – Canada Labour Code, Part IV – IPG-106
If your employer owes you wages, overtime, vacation pay, holiday pay, severance, or pay in lieu of notice, file a monetary complaint with the Labour Program within 6 months of the date the payment was due.20Government of Canada. Federally Regulated Employees – Filing a Labour Standards Complaint With the Labour Program: Eligibility and Timelines That deadline is firm. Filing on time matters more than assembling a perfect evidence package, because the Labour Program can request the employer’s records once your complaint is in.