With the recent announcement that September 19th will be a federal holiday as a day of mourning for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, there's been some questions as to what exactly is affected by a federal holiday.
The announcement will be applying to all federal employees, along with those who work in a federally-regulated workplace.
According to the government of Canada, that includes:
- Air transportation, including airlines, airports, aerodromes, and aircraft operations
- Banks, including authorized foreign banks
- Grain elevators, feed and seed mills, feed warehouses, and grain-seed cleaning plants
- First Nations band councils and Indigenous self-governments (for certain activities)
- Most federal Crown corporations (for example, Canada Post)
- Port services, marine shipping, ferries, tunnels, canals, bridges, and pipelines (oil and gas) that cross international or provincial borders
- Postal and courier services
- Radio and television broadcasting
- Railways that cross provincial or international borders and some short-line railways
- Road transportation services, including trucks and buses, that cross provincial or international borders
- Telecommunications, such as telephone, Internet, telegraph, and cable systems
- Uranium mining and processing and atomic energy
- Any business that is vital, essential, or integral to the operation of one of the above activities
Other services and businesses are instead regulated provincially, and as such may not be closed - however, all businesses may individually choose to observe the day.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he is currently in talks with the provinces and territories to recognize the holiday across multiple levels of the country.
If the day is made a statutory holiday in a province, then it would apply to most workers with paid time off, while those who must work (such as essential care workers) will normally receive financial compensation.