What’s open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2026?
Christmas Day is Friday, December 25, 2026 and Boxing Day is Saturday, December 26, 2026. Whether stores can open is set by each province’s store-closing law, not by its stat holiday rules. Most stores must close on Christmas Day in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, and on Boxing Day in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
This page lists the laws, not individual stores. Every law allows some businesses to open, and chains set their own holiday hours, so check a store before you go.
Is Christmas a stat holiday?·Is Boxing Day a stat holiday?·Boxing Day 2026·2026 long weekends·Advent
Store closings by province, 2026
| Province or territory | Christmas Day 2026 | Boxing Day 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Closed. Christmas Day is one of seven retail business holidays. | Stores may open. Boxing Day is a public holiday for employees, but not a retail business holiday. |
| British Columbia | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. |
| Alberta | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. |
| Saskatchewan | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. |
| Manitoba | No closing law: Manitoba repealed the Retail Businesses Holiday Closing Act on December 12, 2020, so each business sets its own hours. | No closing law: each business sets its own hours. |
| Quebec | Closed. The public may not be admitted to stores on December 25. | Open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at most, because December 26 falls on a weekend. |
| New Brunswick | Closed. Christmas Day is a prescribed day of rest: no retail business may open to the public. | Closed. Boxing Day is also a prescribed day of rest, although it is not a paid holiday for employees. |
| Nova Scotia | Closed. Christmas Day is a designated retail closing day. | Closed. Boxing Day is a designated retail closing day, although it is not a paid holiday for employees. |
| Prince Edward Island | Closed. Christmas Day is a retail business holiday. | Closed. Boxing Day is also a retail business holiday, although it is not a paid holiday for employees. |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Closed. Christmas Day is a holiday under the Shops’ Closing Act. | Closed. Boxing Day is also a holiday under the Shops’ Closing Act, although it is not a paid holiday for employees. |
| Yukon | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. |
| Northwest Territories | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. |
| Nunavut | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. | No closing law listed here: each business sets its own hours. |
Which stores can still open
Ontario
The Retail Business Holidays Act does not apply in Toronto, or where a municipality has its own holiday by-laws. Small shops (under 2,400 sq ft, three or fewer staff) selling only tobacco, antiques, handicrafts or books, and nurseries, flower shops, garden centres, gas stations and designated tourist areas can open.
Source: Ontario: Retail business holidaysQuebec
Some stores have their own rules: small grocery stores (375 m² or less) may open on December 25 and before 1 p.m. on December 26; large grocery stores may not open before 1 p.m. on December 26.
Source: Québec: Act respecting hours and days of admission to commercial establishments (H-2.1) and its regulationNew Brunswick
The Days of Rest Act lists exceptions, such as sporting, recreational and entertainment businesses.
Source: New Brunswick: Days of Rest Act, sections 1 and 4Nova Scotia
Some businesses are exempt under the Retail Business Designated Day Closing Act, and some retail employees have the right to refuse to work on retail closing days.
Source: Nova Scotia: Holiday chart (paid holidays and retail closing days)Prince Edward Island
Service stations, small convenience stores (three or fewer staff), restaurants, laundromats, and accommodation and tourism businesses can open.
Source: PEI Retail Business Holidays Act (consolidation current to September 22, 2014)Newfoundland and Labrador
Shops exempted by regulation can open, and a municipality with its own holiday shopping rules can be exempted from the Act.
Source: Newfoundland and Labrador: Shops’ Closing Act, sections 3 to 5Canada Post
Canada Post is closed on Friday, December 25, 2026 and, for Boxing Day, on Monday, December 28, 2026, with no mail collection or delivery. Post offices inside other stores keep the host store’s hours.
Source: Canada Post: Holiday schedule
Banks and federal offices
Christmas Day and Boxing Day are both general holidays under the Canada Labour Code, which covers banks, airlines, telecoms, interprovincial transport and Canada Post in every province. Branch and office hours are up to each employer.
Federal holidays →Do you get the days off?
Christmas Day is a stat holiday everywhere in Canada; Boxing Day only for federally regulated workplaces and in Ontario. Christmas Day falls on a Friday and Boxing Day on a Saturday in 2026. The Christmas long weekend runs Friday, December 25 to Sunday, December 27 (3 days) across Canada. Because Boxing Day falls on a weekend, Ontario workers who would not have worked that day get a substitute day off with holiday pay, and federally regulated employees get their scheduled work day just before or after it off with pay.
Questions people ask
+What is open on Christmas Day in Canada?
Very little. Most stores are closed by law in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, with some exemptions (in Ontario, small shops and gas stations; in Quebec, small grocery stores). Elsewhere there is no provincial closing law listed here, so each business sets its own hours. Toronto is exempt from Ontario’s rule. Ontario’s law, for example, lets gas stations open, and Prince Edward Island’s lets service stations, restaurants and small convenience stores open; hours are up to each business.
+What is open on Boxing Day 2026?
It depends on the province. Most stores must close on Boxing Day in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. In Quebec most stores may open only from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on December 26, 2026. Ontario does not count Boxing Day as a retail business holiday, so stores may open there. Elsewhere each business sets its own hours.
+Are stores open on Boxing Day in Ontario?
Yes, they may open. Stores may open. Boxing Day is a public holiday for employees, but not a retail business holiday. Christmas Day is a retail business holiday, so most Ontario stores must close on December 25 (Toronto is exempt).
+Are stores open on Boxing Day in Quebec?
Only from 1 p.m. Open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at most, because December 26 falls on a weekend. Some stores have their own rules: small grocery stores (375 m² or less) may open on December 25 and before 1 p.m. on December 26; large grocery stores may not open before 1 p.m. on December 26.
+Are stores open on Christmas Eve?
Yes. December 24 is not a holiday anywhere in Canada, so stores can open. Quebec is the only province here that sets the hours by law: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at most.
+Is there mail on Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2026?
No. Canada Post closes on Friday, December 25, 2026 and, for Boxing Day, on Monday, December 28, 2026: no collection or delivery.
+Are banks open on Boxing Day?
Banks are federally regulated, so Boxing Day is a general holiday for bank employees in every province. Check your own bank for branch hours.