HR glossary · Safety, conduct and hours

Meal breaks

The unpaid or paid break employees must get during a long shift. Each province sets how long it is, when it is due and when it must be paid.

Also called: meal period, lunch break, eating period

What meal breaks means

A meal break is a period during a shift when an employee is free to stop work and eat. Employment standards laws generally require a meal break once a shift passes a certain number of hours. The length and timing differ by province.

Most required meal breaks are unpaid, as long as the employee is truly free from work. If you require the employee to stay at their station, answer the phone, watch the floor or be ready to jump in, the break may have to be paid, because the time is not really their own.

Meal breaks are separate from shorter coffee or rest breaks. Many employers give paid coffee breaks as a benefit, but outside a few situations the law usually focuses on the meal break.

How it works

Check your province's rule for three things: after how many hours of work the break is due, how long it must be, and whether it can be split or moved by agreement. Some provinces also say the break must come within a certain window, so an employee does not work the whole shift and take the break at the end.

Decide whether the break is unpaid or paid. An unpaid break must be free time. If a cashier at a one-person shop has to stay at the counter and serve anyone who walks in, that is not a free break; plan coverage, or pay for the time.

Schedule and record breaks. On busy days, breaks are the first thing to get skipped. Build them into the schedule, especially for single-staffed shifts, and make sure your time records show the actual break taken. If your payroll system automatically deducts 30 minutes for lunch, check that the employee actually got it; automatic deductions for breaks not taken are a common way employers underpay wages.

Common mistakes: letting employees 'work through lunch to leave early' when the law does not allow giving up the break, unpaid breaks where the employee is still on call, and breaks pushed to the last hour of a shift.

Meal breaks by province

Every province and the Canada Labour Code require a meal break after about 5 consecutive hours of work, but the length, whether it can be split and when it must be paid differ.

Where the work is done	The rule
Federal	An unpaid break of at least 30 minutes during every 5 consecutive hours of work, taken in one period. If you keep the employee on call during the break, it must be paid.
British Columbia	A 30-minute unpaid meal break so that no employee works more than 5 hours in a row without one. If the employee must stay available during the break, it must be paid.
Alberta	At least 30 minutes of rest, paid or unpaid, for each 5 consecutive hours of work. By agreement it can be split into two breaks of at least 15 minutes each. If the employee cannot take the break, the time must be paid.
Saskatchewan	Most employees get an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes within every 5 hours of work. If an unexpected or emergency situation prevents the break, the employee must at least be allowed to eat while working.
Manitoba	An unpaid 30-minute break after every 5 consecutive hours of work. Extra coffee or meal breaks are up to the employer.
Ontario	A 30-minute eating period so that no employee works more than 5 hours in a row without one. By agreement it can be split into two periods within each 5 hours. It is unpaid unless the employment contract says otherwise.
Quebec	A 30-minute meal period after 5 consecutive hours of work. It is unpaid, unless the employee is not free to leave their workstation, in which case it must be paid.
New Brunswick	At least half an hour for food and rest after every 5 consecutive hours of work. This rule comes from New Brunswick's occupational health and safety law, not its employment standards law.
Nova Scotia	A 30-minute rest or eating break for every shift of more than 5 consecutive hours, with exceptions for accidents, urgent work and other circumstances that could not be foreseen.
Prince Edward Island	An unpaid rest or meal period of at least 30 consecutive minutes, at intervals of no more than 5 consecutive hours of work. You cannot require the employee to stay at the workplace during it.
Newfoundland and Labrador	An unbroken 1-hour rest period right after every 5 consecutive hours of work, subject to the regulations. A collective agreement or written contract can set a different rest period. The break is unpaid unless you keep direction and control of the employee during it.

We have not yet confirmed the rules for Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut; check with the territory's employment standards office. Many of these rules have exceptions for certain jobs and industries.

Example: A single-staffed shift at a gift shop

Jamal manages a small gift and card shop in Brandon, Manitoba, with 5 part-time staff. On weekday afternoons, one person runs the store alone for a long shift.

Jamal checks Manitoba's meal break rule and sees his afternoon shift is long enough to need one. Because no one else is there, the employee was eating at the till and serving customers. Jamal changes the schedule so the morning employee stays 30 minutes later, giving the afternoon employee a real, uninterrupted break. On days he cannot arrange cover, he pays for the break time.

Employment standards by province

Staffkin's free employment standards by province page is a starting point for pay and hours rules where you hire.

See the rules by province

Free tools and guides for this

Questions about meal breaks

Are meal breaks paid in Canada?

Required meal breaks are usually unpaid if the employee is completely free from work. If you require them to stay available or keep working, the time may have to be paid.

Can an employee skip lunch to leave early?

Check your province's rule before agreeing. Some provinces let the break be shortened or moved by agreement, and others treat it as a minimum that cannot simply be waived.

Do part-time employees get meal breaks?

Yes, if their shift is long enough to trigger the break under your province's rule. The rule depends on hours worked, not on full-time status.

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 5 November 2026.