Quebec: the official figures for 2026
These are all the figures of jurisdictions.quebec in the data file: six loose figures and five tables with 20 rows, each with the statute it comes from, when it took effect and how far it has been verified.
Updated · Figures verified against the statutes of each jurisdiction · see all figures and their sources · what's new
It is one of the 14 pages of the Jurisdictions block, inside official figures. The raw data is in legal-data-2026.json.
What this block holds
Quebec's figures come from the Act respecting labour standards, cited section by section: the three-month qualifying period of section 82.1, the notice ladder of section 82, collective dismissal in sections 84.0.1 and 84.0.4, vacation in section 69, the statutory general holidays of section 60 and the one-year time limit in section 115.
Quebec has no separate severance pay. When a job ends without the notice section 82 requires, section 83 gives a compensatory indemnity, which this site calls termination pay. Notice also applies to a layoff of six months or more. Where a collective agreement gives recall privileges beyond six months, the indemnity waits until those privileges run out or a year passes, whichever comes first. Collective dismissal starts at 10 employees within two consecutive months at one establishment. Vacation pay rises to 6% of wages after three years of service. There are eight holidays: seven in the Act, plus the National Holiday on June 24 from its own statute.
The Validity column is blank on every Quebec row. The data file records no start date for them; they are statutory values, not yearly ones, and change only by amendment.
How to read the table
Figure describes the rule, Value states it, Source cites the section, Validity is where a start date would go, and Status tells you whether it was confirmed. The complaint deadline row shows why the notes matter: Value says 1 year under s. 115, but the note explains that each unpaid amount has its own clock, and that a dismissal complaint under section 124 has a far shorter window of 45 days. Status reads Verified, meaning checked against the Act. A Secondary source row would hold a figure calculated from published numbers; a Not yet verified row would stay out of the site's other pages.
The rows are inputs, not your result. Your indemnity depends on your uninterrupted service and your wages, and the holiday row lists Good Friday or Easter Monday because the Act lets your employer pick one.
Where the site uses these figures
The Quebec guide to notice and the compensatory indemnity and the indemnity calculator rely on these rows, and the Quebec EI page takes over once the job ends. The collective dismissal schedule is set against other provinces in mass termination rules, the holiday list in stat holidays across Canada, and the vacation percentages in vacation pay when your job ends.
Status: Verified = read in the primary source; Secondary source = worked out by us from official figures, arithmetic shown; Not yet verified = not confirmed in the primary source, and so not published as a firm figure on any other page. The detail is in rule three of the methodology.
Quebec jurisdictions.quebec
| Figure | Value | Source | Validity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Under three months of uninterrupted service the Act gives no notice and no indemnity.quebec.notice.qualifying_service | 3 months | Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 82.1 — Employees to whom section 82 does not apply | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Quebec has no separate statutory severance pay. The Act gives one money entitlement when a job ends without notice: the compensatory indemnity in section 83, which is what this site calls termination pay.quebec.severance.exists | No | Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 83 — Compensatory indemnity in lieu of notice | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Ten employees is the lowest collective-dismissal threshold in Canada, matched by Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and the federal jurisdiction all start at 50.quebec.group_termination.threshold | 10 employees | Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 84.0.1 — What a collective dismissal is | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
The ten terminations must fall within two consecutive months at the same establishment.quebec.group_termination.window | 2 months | Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 84.0.1 — What a collective dismissal is | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Seven statutory general holidays are listed in the Act respecting labour standards; the eighth, the National Holiday on 24 June, comes from its own statute. Quebec has no Family Day, no Remembrance Day and no National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as paid holidays under these two Acts.quebec.holidays.count | 8 | Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 60 — Statutory general holidays | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
One year runs separately from each due date, so an old unpaid amount can expire while a recent one is still claimable. A different and much shorter deadline applies to a dismissal complaint under section 124: 45 days.quebec.complaint.deadline | 1 year | Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 115 — Prescription of a civil action | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 years | 1 year | 1 week |
| 1 year | 5 years | 2 weeks |
| 5 years | 10 years | 4 weeks |
| 10 years | — | 8 weeks |
Source: Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 82 — Notice of termination of employment or layoff. Reviewed on October 20, 2026.
| Label | Max value | Max unit | Window value | Window unit | Condition | Source | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic limit | 6 | months | — | — | — | qc_lsa_s82 | The employer must give written notice to an employee before terminating the employee's contract of employment or laying the employee off for six months or more. |
| Recall privileges under a collective agreement | — | — | — | — | Where a collective agreement gives you recall privileges for more than six months, the indemnity is not owed until the earlier of the day those privileges run out and one year after the layoff. | qc_lsa_s83_1 | In the case of an employee who, under a collective agreement, is entitled to recall privileges for more than six months, the employer is bound to pay the compensatory indemnity only from the first of the following dates |
Source: Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 82 — Notice of termination of employment or layoff. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Employees from | Employees to | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 99 | 8 weeks |
| 100 | 299 | 12 weeks |
| 300 | — | 16 weeks |
Source: Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 84.0.4 — Notice of collective dismissal to the Minister. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks | Pay percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 years | 1 year | 0 weeks | 4% |
| 1 year | 3 years | 2 weeks | 4% |
| 3 years | — | 3 weeks | 6% |
Source: Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 69 — Three weeks of annual leave. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Name | Date rule |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January |
| Good Friday or Easter Monday | One of the two, at the employer's option |
| National Patriots' Day | The Monday preceding 25 May |
| National Holiday (St. John the Baptist Day) | 24 June; if it falls on a Sunday that is not a regular working day for you, 25 June |
| Canada Day | 1 July, or 2 July where the 1st falls on a Sunday |
| Labour Day | The first Monday in September |
| Thanksgiving Day | The second Monday in October |
| Christmas Day | 25 December |
Source: Act respecting labour standards (QC), s. 60 — Statutory general holidays. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.