HR glossary · Safety, conduct and hours

Hours of work

The rules on how long employees can work and what counts as work time, including the daily or weekly hours after which overtime is owed in each province.

Also called: working hours, standard hours of work, maximum hours of work

What hours of work means

Hours of work are the time an employee spends working for you, and the employment standards rules that limit and price that time. Each province sets standard hours (the point after which overtime pay starts), and many also set maximum hours, rest periods and rules on what time counts as work.

Getting hours right matters because it drives pay. If you do not count time that legally counts as work, such as required training, you may underpay wages and overtime. If you schedule past the standard hours, overtime is owed whether or not you approved it in advance.

Hours of work rules are minimums. You can always offer shorter hours or more generous overtime than the law requires, but not less.

How it works

Count all the time you require or allow the employee to work. That usually includes time on shift, time spent opening or closing, required meetings, and training you require. Some provinces say so directly: Alberta says to pay people during orientation and training, Manitoba says job-specific training generally must be paid, and British Columbia treats a trial shift as work, so the applicant is an employee and must be paid.

Know your province's overtime threshold. Some provinces count only weekly hours, others count both daily and weekly hours, and the numbers differ. The table below shows when overtime starts. Many managers and some other roles are excluded from overtime, and the exclusions differ by province.

Keep accurate records. Track start and end times, unpaid breaks and total hours each day and week. Good records protect you if an employee disputes their pay and help you spot schedules that are drifting into overtime.

Common mistakes: not paying for time spent closing up after the till is counted, unpaid 'trial shifts', treating a salaried role as overtime-exempt without checking the exclusions, and averaging hours over two weeks without a valid arrangement under your province's rules.

Hours of work by province

Each province sets its own standard hours before overtime. Some count only weekly hours; others count daily hours too. Figures checked against official sources on 7 October 2026.

Where the work is done	The rule
Federal	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
British Columbia	1.5 times after 8 hours a day and 2 times after 12 hours a day; 1.5 times after 40 hours a week.
Alberta	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 44 a week, whichever is greater, at 1.5 times regular pay.
Saskatchewan	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
Manitoba	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
Ontario	Overtime after 44 hours a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
Quebec	Overtime after 40 hours a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
New Brunswick	Overtime after 44 hours a week, at 1.5 times the minimum wage.
Nova Scotia	Overtime after 48 hours a week, at 1.5 times regular pay. The threshold drops to 44 hours a week on 1 April 2027.
Prince Edward Island	Overtime after 44 hours a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
Newfoundland and Labrador	Overtime after 40 hours a week, at 1.5 times the minimum wage.
Yukon	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, at 1.5 times regular pay.
Northwest Territories	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, at least 1.5 times regular pay.
Nunavut	Overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, at least 1.5 times regular pay.

Maximum hours, rest rules and overtime exclusions also differ; see your province's employment standards office.

Example: A busy week at a Moncton bakery

Maya runs a 9-person bakery in Moncton, New Brunswick. During the holiday rush, her baker works 47 hours in one week, plus a required one-hour food safety session on Sunday.

The training was required, so Maya counts it as work time: 48 hours in total. New Brunswick's overtime starts after 44 hours a week, so 4 hours are overtime. In New Brunswick overtime is paid at 1.5 times the minimum wage, which is $15.90 an hour, so the overtime rate is at least $23.85 an hour. Maya records the hours and pays the overtime on the next pay day.

Employment standards by province

Staffkin's free employment standards by province page lists the overtime threshold and rate for every province and territory, checked against official sources.

See the rules by province

Free tools and guides for this

Questions about hours of work

How many hours is full time in Canada?

There is no single legal definition of full time. What the law sets is the point where overtime starts, which ranges from 40 to 48 hours a week depending on the province.

Does training time count as hours of work?

Required training generally counts. Alberta and Manitoba guidance says to pay for orientation and job training, and British Columbia treats a trial shift as paid work.

Is overtime calculated by the day or the week?

It depends on the province. Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces use weekly hours; British Columbia, the Prairies, the territories and federal rules also use daily hours.

Official sources

General information for Canadian employers, not legal advice. Rules differ by province and territory and change over time, so check with your provincial employment standards office (or the federal Labour Program if you are federally regulated) before you rely on it. See employment standards by province.

Checked against official sources on 4 November 2026.