Vacation pay calculator for Québec (2026)

Québec vacation pay rates and leave at a glance

Both the percentage and the length of leave depend on one thing: the employee’s continuous service with the same employer at the end of the reference year. Age, job title and full-time or part-time status do not matter.

There is no 8% tier in the Québec Act. A collective agreement, a decree or an employment contract can always give more, never less.

How to use the calculator

1. Gross wages in the reference year. Enter everything the employee earned from May 1 of last year to April 30 of this year, before deductions. See the next section for what to include.
2. Years of continuous service at April 30. Count from the hiring date to the end of the reference year. For someone with less than one year, enter 0 years and choose the number of complete months, which sets the number of vacation days.
3. Absence. Tick the box if the employee was off because of illness, an accident or maternity or paternity leave, and enter the weeks actually worked. The calculator compares the percentage with the section 74 minimum.
4. Leaving the job. Tick the box if employment is ending and enter the wages earned since May 1. The calculator adds the indemnity for earned leave not yet taken and 4% or 6% of the current-year wages.

What counts as gross wages for vacation pay

The percentage applies to gross wages: the total of the money paid in exchange for work, before source deductions. The CNESST’s definition includes, in particular:

• salary, wages and bonuses paid, including performance bonuses;
• overtime, whether paid or taken as time off;
• statutory holiday pay and vacation pay itself;
• declared and allocated tips;
• commissions, including those paid during the vacation;
• paid days of absence, including sick days and family-obligation days;
• paid profit sharing, taxable allowances such as meal and transportation allowances, and the taxable benefit for an employer-provided car;
• employer RRSP contributions that appear on the tax slips.

It does not include expense reimbursements supported by receipts, employer contributions to a defined contribution registered pension plan, deferred profit sharing plan amounts, or benefits paid by the CNESST, the SAAQ, employment insurance or a private wage-loss insurer. For an item not on these lists, look at its nature: if it is pay for work, it generally belongs in the base. When in doubt, check with the CNESST.

Because vacation pay and holiday pay are themselves part of gross wages, last year’s vacation pay, if paid during the current reference year, is part of this year’s base.

Worked examples

Two years of service: $40,000 in wages

An employee has 2 years of continuous service at April 30, 2026 and earned $40,000 between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026.

• Rate: 4%. Vacation pay: $40,000 × 4% = $1,600.
• Leave: 2 consecutive weeks, about $800 a week. On request, the employee can add a third week, unpaid.

New hire in the first reference year

An employee hired on September 15, 2025 has 7 complete months of service at April 30, 2026 and earned $24,500.

• Leave: 1 working day per complete month = 7 working days.
• Vacation pay: $24,500 × 4% = $980.

Three years exactly

The tier is set on April 30, not on the anniversary. Someone hired on April 1, 2023 has 3 years of service on April 30, 2026 and gets 6% and 3 weeks for that reference year. Someone hired on June 1, 2023 has 2 years and 10 complete months on April 30, 2026, so 4% and 2 weeks; the 6% rate starts with the reference year ending April 30, 2027.

Absences: the section 74 protection

An employee whose vacation pay is reduced by certain absences is protected. If the employee was absent for one of the reasons in section 79.1, such as illness, an accident, organ or tissue donation, domestic or sexual violence or a criminal act, or took maternity or paternity leave, and that absence lowers the indemnity, the employee is entitled to two or three times the average weekly wage earned during the period worked: two times for 2 weeks of leave, three times for 3 weeks. An employee with less than 2 weeks of leave gets that amount in proportion to the days credited. The result cannot exceed what the employee would have received without the absence.

Example: an employee with 2 years of service worked 30 weeks, earned $33,000 and was off sick for 22 weeks. The 4% method gives $1,320. The average weekly wage is $33,000 ÷ 30 = $1,100, and twice that is $2,200. Had the employee worked all 52 weeks at that pace, 4% of $57,200 would have been $2,288, so the cap does not apply and the employee receives $2,200.

The CNESST also explains that the indemnity keeps accumulating during a maternity leave of 18 weeks or less, a paternity leave of 5 weeks or less and an illness or accident absence of 26 weeks or less.

When vacation pay must be paid

Unless a collective agreement or decree says otherwise, vacation pay is paid in a lump sum before the leave starts, or with the regular pay that covers the vacation period (section 75). It can be added to each pay only when the employer’s activities are seasonal or otherwise intermittent, such as tourism, agriculture or fisheries, or when a collective agreement or decree provides for it.

• Leave must be taken within the 12 months following the end of the reference year (section 70). At the employee’s request, the employer may allow it to be taken during the reference year itself.
• The employee must know the vacation dates at least 4 weeks in advance (section 72).
• The employer cannot replace the leave with money (section 73), except under a collective agreement or decree, or for the third week when the establishment closes for 2 weeks and the employee asks to be paid instead.

Vacation pay when employment ends

When the employment contract ends before the employee has taken all the leave earned, whether by resignation, layoff or dismissal, section 76 requires two amounts:

1. the indemnity for the earned leave not taken, calculated under section 74; and
2. 4% or 6% of the gross wages earned in the current reference year, from May 1 to the last day of work.

Example: an employee with 4 years of service leaves on August 31, 2026 without having taken the vacation earned in the reference year ended April 30, 2026, when gross wages were $50,000. From May 1 to August 31, 2026 the employee earned $17,600.

Pay it with the final pay, show it on the final pay slip and include it on the record of employment and on the T4 and RL-1 for the year it is paid. Our Québec payroll checklist covers the rest of the departure steps.

Statutory holiday pay: the 1/20 rule

For each statutory holiday, the employer pays an indemnity equal to 1/20 of the wages earned during the 4 complete pay weeks before the week of the holiday, excluding overtime (section 62). For an employee paid wholly or partly on commission, it is 1/60 of the wages earned in the 12 complete pay weeks before the holiday week. The same method applies to full-time and part-time employees, and declared or allocated tips are included.

• Example: $3,000 of regular wages in the 4 complete weeks before the holiday week, plus $400 of overtime. Holiday pay: $3,000 ÷ 20 = $150.
• Commission example: $13,800 earned in the 12 complete weeks. Holiday pay: $13,800 ÷ 60 = $230.

Québec has eight statutory holidays, including the Fête nationale on June 24. Holiday pay is itself part of the gross wages on which vacation pay is calculated.

Federally regulated employers

Banks, airlines, telecommunications companies, interprovincial trucking and other federally regulated businesses follow the Canada Labour Code, not the Québec Act, even for employees who work in Montréal. Under the Code, vacation is 2 weeks at 4% after 1 year of employment, 3 weeks at 6% after 5 consecutive years and 4 weeks at 8% after 10 consecutive years, with different holiday rules. This calculator applies the Québec rules only.

Taxes on vacation pay

Vacation pay is employment income, taxed in the year it is paid. It is subject to income tax withholding, QPP contributions, EI premiums and QPIP premiums like regular salary. It is reported on the T4 and the RL-1. Our guide to T4 slip boxes shows where each amount goes.

Common vacation pay mistakes

• Using the current hourly rate instead of the actual wages earned in the reference year, including overtime, commissions and holiday pay.
• Switching to 6% on the 3-year anniversary instead of at the end of the reference year.
• Adding 4% to every pay for year-round staff without a seasonal or intermittent activity, collective agreement or decree that allows it.
• Paying out vacation instead of giving the time off, which section 73 generally prohibits.
• Forgetting the current-year portion on departure, or the earned leave not taken.
• Ignoring the section 74 comparison after a long sick leave or a maternity leave.

More on Québec payroll

For the full rules, including carry-overs, the split of leave into two periods, the eight statutory holidays for 2026 and 2027 and the withholding methods for vacation pay, read our complete guide to vacation pay in Québec. We run payroll for Québec employers from $75 a month for 1 to 5 employees; see our payroll service. Need to add or remove sales tax? Use our GST/QST calculator.

Sources

• LégisQuébec – Act respecting labour standards (N-1.1), sections 62 and 66 to 77
• CNESST – Vacances annuelles
• CNESST – Salaire brut (definition of gross wages)
• CNESST – Calculating statutory holiday pay
• Revenu Québec – Vacation pay (source deductions)
• Government of Canada – Annual vacations and general holidays (federal)

This calculator applies the minimum standards. Construction workers covered by the construction decree have their own vacation system administered by the CCQ.

FAQ

Related guides

• Vacation Pay in Québec (2026): 4% or 6%, Holidays and Termination
• How to Do Payroll in Québec (2026): Steps and Real Employee Cost
• T4 slip explained box by box (2026)