How much is vacation pay in Ontario?
Vacation pay in Ontario is at least 4% of the gross wages earned in a vacation entitlement year, rising to 6% for an employee with five or more years of employment at the end of that year. Those are the minimums in the Employment Standards Act (ESA). The same law sets a separate minimum for vacation time: 2 weeks a year, then 3 weeks.
How to read this table: find the row for the length of employment on the last day of the vacation entitlement year or stub period. Gross wages exclude vacation pay itself.
| Length of employment at the end of the year | Minimum vacation time | Minimum vacation pay |
|---|---|---|
| Less than five years | 2 weeks | 4% of gross wages |
| Five years or more | 3 weeks | 6% of gross wages |
Source: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation time by length of employment); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay percentages); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (contracts and collective agreements can give more); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (some jobs are exempt); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (no vacation time for an incomplete year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay is earned as wages are earned); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (standard vacation entitlement year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (length of employment is measured at the end of the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (five years reached partway through the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (time off on leave or lay-off counts toward the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period vacation time, regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period, three weeks only after a conversion); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example 1); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example 2); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (deadline for taking vacation); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (how vacation time is scheduled); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days, regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days after five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation time can be given up, vacation pay cannot); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked example, Janice); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked example, Jocelyn's stub period); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked examples, Quinn and Andrew); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (example of a better contract); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (gross wages that count); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (amounts that do not count); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (when vacation pay is paid, general rule); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation taken in periods of less than a week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay on each pay cheque); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay on each pay cheque is shown separately); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (top-up when five years is reached); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (any time agreed to); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (direct deposit); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (when employment ends); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (employment ends before five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (employment ends after five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (termination pay and severance pay); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (deadline to pay when employment ends); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (page date); List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — Canada.ca (who falls under the Canada Labour Code); List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — Canada.ca (banks, telecommunications and cross-border transport). In effect from February 5, 2026; checked October 11, 2026.
This vacation pay calculator applies those two tiers to the wages entered. It shows the minimum vacation pay, the minimum vacation time in weeks and in single days, and the amount that builds up each pay period. It covers a full year, a job that ended partway through a year, and a stub period.
The figures are ESA minimums only. A contract of employment or a collective agreement can give more vacation time, a higher percentage, or both; the ontario.ca guide gives the example of four weeks with 8% of gross earnings. Some job categories are exempt from the ESA vacation rules. Employees of federally regulated workplaces, such as banks, telecommunications companies and cross-border transport, fall under the Canada Labour Code instead, and its rules are not modelled here.
How do you use this vacation pay calculator?
- Choose what the wages cover. A full vacation entitlement year is normally the 12 months starting on the date of hire. Pick the job-ended option for a partial year, or the stub period option when the employer runs a different year, such as January to December. Both take a length of 1 to 11 months.
- Enter the wages. Total gross wages for the period is the most exact choice. An hourly rate with hours and weeks worked, or a yearly salary, also works.
- Enter the completed years with the employer. Count to the end of the vacation entitlement year, or to the last day of the job. Time on leave or lay-off counts.
- Pick the pay frequency. It sets the vacation pay accrued in each pay period.
- Open the advanced options if needed. Enter a contract rate above the ESA minimum, take out amounts that do not count, or change the days worked per week to see vacation time as single days.
The result leads with the ESA minimum vacation pay, then the vacation time and the per pay period accrual. Nothing entered is sent anywhere or stored.
What does a worked example look like?
Take an Ontario employee paid $22.00 an hour for 40 hours a week, who worked 50 weeks in the vacation entitlement year and has 3 years with the employer, paid every two weeks.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Gross wages for the year | $22.00 × 40 hours × 50 weeks | $44,000.00 |
| ESA vacation pay rate | 3 years is under the five-year threshold | 4% |
| Minimum vacation pay | 4% of gross wages | $1,760.00 |
| Minimum vacation time | completed year, under five years | 2 weeks |
| Vacation time in single days | 2 weeks × 5 days worked per week | 10 days |
| Wages in a biweekly pay period | $22.00 × 80 hours | $1,760.00 |
| Accrued each pay period | 4% of the pay period’s wages | $70.40 |
The vacation pay equals exactly 2.00 weeks of regular wages, which is why 4% and 2 weeks go together. With five or more years of employment the same wages would earn 6%, or $2,640.00, and 3 weeks of vacation time. Any overtime pay or public holiday pay earned in the year would raise both figures, because those amounts are part of gross wages. The hourly to salary calculator converts an hourly rate into yearly pay for other hours and weeks.
How much vacation pay builds up at common wage levels?
Vacation pay scales in a straight line with wages, so a table by wage level shows the minimum at a glance. Each row is a full vacation entitlement year paid every two weeks.
| Gross wages in the year | Vacation pay at 4% | Per pay period at 4% | Vacation pay at 6% | Per pay period at 6% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $1,200.00 | $46.15 | $1,800.00 | $69.23 |
| $45,000 | $1,800.00 | $69.23 | $2,700.00 | $103.85 |
| $60,000 | $2,400.00 | $92.31 | $3,600.00 | $138.46 |
| $80,000 | $3,200.00 | $123.08 | $4,800.00 | $184.62 |
The step from 4% to 6% is worth half as much again: on $60,000 of wages it adds $1,200.00 a year. For pay near the legal floor, the Ontario minimum wage guide lists the current hourly rates to enter.
What counts as gross wages for vacation pay in Ontario?
Gross wages for vacation pay are regular earnings plus most other pay tied to work, before tax and excluding vacation pay itself. The ontario.ca guide lists what is in and what is out. Leaving out overtime pay or public holiday pay makes a vacation pay figure too low.
How to read this table: add up the rows marked Yes for the vacation entitlement year, and leave out the rows marked No. The percentage applies to the total.
| Type of pay | Counts toward vacation pay? |
|---|---|
| Regular earnings, including commissions | Yes |
| Bonuses and gifts that are non-discretionary or related to hours of work | Yes |
| Overtime pay | Yes |
| Public holiday pay | Yes |
| Termination pay | Yes |
| Allowances for room and board | Yes |
| Domestic or sexual violence leave pay | Yes |
| Vacation pay paid out or earned but not yet paid | No |
| Tips or other gratuities | No |
| Discretionary bonuses and gifts not related to hours of work, production or efficiency | No |
| Expenses and travelling allowances | No |
| Living allowances | No |
| Employer contributions to a benefit plan and payments from a benefit plan (such as sick pay) | No |
| Federal employment insurance benefits | No |
| Severance pay | No |
Source: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation time by length of employment); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay percentages); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (contracts and collective agreements can give more); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (some jobs are exempt); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (no vacation time for an incomplete year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay is earned as wages are earned); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (standard vacation entitlement year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (length of employment is measured at the end of the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (five years reached partway through the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (time off on leave or lay-off counts toward the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period vacation time, regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period, three weeks only after a conversion); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example 1); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example 2); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (deadline for taking vacation); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (how vacation time is scheduled); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days, regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days after five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation time can be given up, vacation pay cannot); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked example, Janice); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked example, Jocelyn's stub period); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked examples, Quinn and Andrew); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (example of a better contract); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (gross wages that count); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (amounts that do not count); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (when vacation pay is paid, general rule); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation taken in periods of less than a week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay on each pay cheque); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay on each pay cheque is shown separately); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (top-up when five years is reached); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (any time agreed to); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (direct deposit); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (when employment ends); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (employment ends before five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (employment ends after five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (termination pay and severance pay); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (deadline to pay when employment ends); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (page date); List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — Canada.ca (who falls under the Canada Labour Code); List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — Canada.ca (banks, telecommunications and cross-border transport). In effect from February 5, 2026; checked October 11, 2026.
Public holiday pay counts, so a year with paid holidays has slightly more vacation pay than the hourly rate alone suggests. The Ontario stat holidays guide explains how public holiday pay is worked out.
When does five years of employment change vacation pay?
Five years of employment raises the minimum to 6% and 3 weeks, and the test is applied at the end of the vacation entitlement year. An employee who reaches five years ten months before the year ends and one who reaches it a day before are treated the same: both get 6% of all the wages earned in that year. The ontario.ca example is an employee with $16,000 of gross wages who reaches the threshold partway through the year and is owed $960.00.
When vacation pay is paid on each pay cheque, that creates a top-up. Take an employee who earned $24,000 between the start of the vacation entitlement year and the five-year anniversary, with 4% paid on each pay cheque. The employer owes a further 2% on those earlier wages, $480.00, and then 6% on wages from the anniversary on. The calculator flags this when exactly five completed years are entered.
When is vacation pay paid in Ontario?
Vacation pay is normally paid as a lump sum before the employee takes the vacation time earned, and the ESA allows four other arrangements. One of them is vacation pay on every pay cheque, which needs the employee’s agreement electronically or in writing.
How to read this table: the first row is the general rule; the rows below it are the exceptions the ESA allows, plus the deadline when a job ends.
| Situation | When vacation pay is paid |
|---|---|
| General rule | In a lump sum before the employee takes the vacation time earned |
| Vacation taken in periods of less than one week | On or before the pay day for the pay period in which the vacation falls |
| Employee agreed electronically or in writing to vacation pay on each pay cheque | On each pay day as it accrues, shown separately on the wage statement or on a separate statement |
| Employee agreed electronically or in writing to another time | At the time the employee agreed to |
| Wages paid by direct deposit | On or before the pay day for the pay period in which the vacation falls |
| Employment ends | Within seven days of the employment ending or on what would have been the next pay day, whichever is later |
Source: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation time by length of employment); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay percentages); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (contracts and collective agreements can give more); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (some jobs are exempt); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (no vacation time for an incomplete year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay is earned as wages are earned); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (standard vacation entitlement year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (length of employment is measured at the end of the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (five years reached partway through the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (time off on leave or lay-off counts toward the year); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period vacation time, regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period, three weeks only after a conversion); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example 1); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example 2); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (stub period example, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (deadline for taking vacation); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (how vacation time is scheduled); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days, regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days, no regular work week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (single vacation days after five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation time can be given up, vacation pay cannot); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked example, Janice); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked example, Jocelyn's stub period); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (worked examples, Quinn and Andrew); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (example of a better contract); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (gross wages that count); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (amounts that do not count); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (when vacation pay is paid, general rule); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation taken in periods of less than a week); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay on each pay cheque); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (vacation pay on each pay cheque is shown separately); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (top-up when five years is reached); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (any time agreed to); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (direct deposit); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (when employment ends); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (employment ends before five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (employment ends after five years); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (termination pay and severance pay); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (deadline to pay when employment ends); Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Vacation — ontario.ca (page date); List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — Canada.ca (who falls under the Canada Labour Code); List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — Canada.ca (banks, telecommunications and cross-border transport). In effect from February 5, 2026; checked October 11, 2026.
Vacation time has its own deadline: it has to be taken within 10 months of the end of the vacation entitlement year or stub period in which it was earned. The employer schedules it and is responsible for making sure it is taken.
What happens to vacation pay when employment ends?
When employment ends, all vacation pay earned and not yet paid is owed, including pay from an earlier completed year. A partial year earns no ESA vacation time, but its wages still earn vacation pay at 4%, or 6% for an employee who had already reached five years. Payment is due within 7 days of the job ending or on what would have been the next pay day, whichever is later.
Take an employee with 2 years of employment who leaves after 5 months of the current year, with $18,000 of gross wages in those months and $1,400 of vacation pay still unpaid from the year before. The current year adds $720.00, for $2,120.00 owed in total.
Vacation pay is payable on termination pay but not on severance pay. The Ontario severance pay calculator works out both of those amounts and adds vacation pay to the termination pay.
How does a stub period work?
A stub period is the gap before an alternative vacation entitlement year begins, and it earns a prorated share of vacation time. It exists only when the employer picks a year that does not start on the date of hire. The ontario.ca formula is the weeks of vacation multiplied by the months in the stub period divided by 12.
For an employee hired on September 1 with a January to December year, the stub period is four months. The vacation time is 2/3 of a week. With no regular work week, the same figure is multiplied by the average days worked per week: the guide’s example of 51 days over 17 work weeks gives 2 days. Vacation pay for the stub period is still a straight percentage: $522.00 on $13,050 of wages.
A stub period is based on 3 weeks only when an employer switches from a standard year to an alternative one and the employee has five or more years at the end of the stub period. The calculator follows that rule and says so in the result.
How does the maths work?
The calculation has four parts, in plain English:
- Wage base. Gross wages for the period, less anything entered as not counting. With the hourly option it is the rate times weekly hours times weeks worked; with the salary option it is the salary, or the share for the months entered.
- Rate and weeks. Completed years at the end of the period are compared with the five-year threshold to pick the ESA rate and weeks. A contract rate is used only when it is higher than the ESA rate.
- Vacation pay and time. Wage base times rate, rounded to the cent. Vacation time is the full weeks for a completed year, the prorated weeks for a stub period, and none for a job that ended partway through a year.
- Per pay period. The wages are put on a full-year pace and divided by the number of pay periods, then multiplied by the rate. A schedule adds up each pay period until the running total equals the vacation pay.
The tests behind the calculator reproduce the worked examples in the ontario.ca guide to the cent.
What are the most common mistakes with vacation pay?
- Treating vacation time and vacation pay as one thing. They are separate entitlements. Time needs a completed year; pay is earned from the first hour.
- Leaving overtime and public holiday pay out of the wages. Both count, along with commissions and non-discretionary bonuses.
- Counting tips or a discretionary bonus. Neither is part of gross wages for vacation pay.
- Using the length of employment at the start of the year. The ESA looks at the end of the vacation entitlement year.
- Assuming a salary paid during time off is extra. For a salaried employee, regular pay during vacation can be the vacation pay; the ESA test is whether it reaches 4% or 6% of the year’s wages.
- Reading the ESA figure as the amount owed. A contract or collective agreement with better terms replaces the minimum.
When is it worth talking to a professional?
A conversation with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, a union representative or an employment lawyer is worth considering when vacation pay was not paid after a job ended, when the employer and employee disagree about which wages count, when a contract gives different terms from the ESA, or when the job may be exempt or federally regulated. This calculator gives general information about the ESA minimums, not legal advice; the ontario.ca guide to the Employment Standards Act and the wage statement from the employer are the documents to check. After a job loss, the EI calculator estimates the weekly Employment Insurance benefit, and the Ontario income tax calculator shows the tax on a year of earnings.