Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) does not list the Civic Holiday as a paid public holiday. The government explicitly states: "While some employers give their employees a holiday on Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, the first Monday in August, or Remembrance Day, the employer is not required to do so under the ESA." This means you owe no statutory holiday pay for the Civic Holiday, because it is not a legally mandated holiday under provincial law.
Employers must follow ESA rules only for the nine listed public holidays, such as Canada Day or Labour Day. For example, if an employee works on a statutory holiday like Canada Day, you must pay public holiday pay calculated as "regular wages earned in the four work weeks before the work week with the public holiday plus vacation pay payable for those weeks, divided by 20." You cannot treat the Civic Holiday as a statutory holiday for payroll purposes, as it is not covered by the ESA.
First, confirm your employee’s eligibility for statutory holidays using the ESA’s official list of nine public holidays. Next, calculate pay only for actual statutory holidays like Canada Day, not the Civic Holiday. After that, ensure your payroll system does not automatically include the Civic Holiday as a paid day off unless you choose to offer it voluntarily.