Canada Has Among The Fewest Vacation Days Worldwide & Offers Less Than Half Of Other Countries

In need of a break? Canadians wanting to take some time off from work may be surprised to learn that Canada actually ranks among the worst in the world when it comes to paid vacation days.

Online resume writing site Resume.io analyzed the number of paid vacation days residents of 197 countries are able to use in a year, looking at laws covering both annual statutory paid leave and paid public holidays to determine which nation has the most and least paid time off.

The site found that Canada is actually among the worst countries in the world when it comes to paid vacation time, offering residents only 10 days of mandatory paid leave, in addition to nine paid public holidays in a calendar year, for a total of 19 days of paid vacation days.

This means Canada ranks 18th from the bottom out of 197 countries.

Below it is China, where residents get five days of paid leave and 11 paid public holidays (16 paid vacation days in total), and Lebanon, where residents can take 15 days of paid time off but only have two paid public holidays (17 days paid vacation days in total).

At the bottom of the list is the U.S., where residents get zero days of paid leave and see 10 paid public holidays in the year, only beaten by Micronesia, where the number of paid leave days is the same but there are only nine paid public holidays.

It's worth noting that in Canada, most employees are entitled to take the day of a public holiday off and receive full salary, but some businesses and essential care workers require employees to work.

These employees are compensated with no less than 1.5 times their regular wages or sometimes a day off lieu, as determined by their employer.

In Canada, statutory holidays are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Canada Day, Labour Day and Christmas Day, Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day and Boxing Day.

Federally-regulated employees are also entitled to the National Day For Truth and Reconciliation on September 30.

Some statutory holidays are also determined provincially in Canada, like B.C. Day, which is a statutory holiday in British Columbia.

Interestingly, no North American countries made the top 10.

With the lackluster number of paid days off, it's no wonder then that many Canucks are interested in companies offering a four-day workweek.

Many Canadian companies are adopting or trialling a work week that shortens the number of hours worked while maintaining the same salary and output, giving employees three days off in the week instead of two.