Overtime Pay by Province: Daily Rules, Weekly Rules and the Ones That Cost You Money
Canada has no single overtime rule — it has eleven. Enter the hours you worked each day and see what your province says you are owed, including the daily rules most weekly calculators quietly ignore.
Updated onNote: a guide figure for general employment under each province’s employment standards rules. It does not cover trade-specific exceptions (construction, trucking, agriculture, management, commissioned sales), written averaging agreements, statutory holidays or specific federal sectors. Check with your provincial labour ministry. This is not legal advice.
There is no national overtime rule
Overtime is set by provincial employment standards, plus a separate federal regime for federally regulated work (banks, airlines, interprovincial trucking, telecom). Same hours, same job, different province, different cheque.
The thresholds the calculator uses, from calc-data.js:
| Province / sector | When overtime starts | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 44 h/week | ×1.5 |
| British Columbia | 8 h/day and 40 h/week | ×1.5, ×2 after 12 h in a day |
| Alberta | 8 h/day or 44 h/week, whichever gives more | ×1.5 |
| Quebec | 40 h/week | ×1.5 |
| Manitoba | 8 h/day or 40 h/week, whichever gives more | ×1.5 |
| Saskatchewan | 8 h/day or 40 h/week, whichever gives more | ×1.5 |
| Nova Scotia | 48 h/week | ×1.5 |
| New Brunswick | 44 h/week | ×1.5 |
| Prince Edward Island | 48 h/week | ×1.5 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 40 h/week | ×1.5 |
| Federally regulated | 40 h/week | ×1.5 |
These are the general-employment rules. Trades, agriculture, trucking, commissioned sales, managers and supervisors often sit outside them, and written averaging agreements can change the arithmetic entirely.
“Greater of”, not “sum of” — the rule that quietly costs people money
In Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan the law does not add the daily calculation to the weekly one. It runs both and pays whichever produces more overtime hours. Alberta calls it the 8/44 rule: alberta.ca — overtime hours and overtime pay.
Why that matters, with a schedule that looks completely ordinary. Four shifts of 11 hours, 44 hours in the week, $22.00/hour, in Alberta:
- Daily calculation: 11 − 8 = 3 overtime hours per day, × 4 days = 12 overtime hours
- Weekly calculation: 44 − 44 = 0 overtime hours
- Greater of the two: 12 hours
- Regular hours: 44 − 12 = 32, paid at 32 × 22.00 = $704.00
- Overtime: 12 × 22.00 × 1.5 = $396.00
- Week total: $1,100.00
The same four shifts in Ontario, which has no daily threshold: 44 hours, none of them over the 44-hour line, so 44 × 22.00 = $968.00. A $132.00 difference for identical work, purely because of the province.
If you only ever look at your weekly total, in Alberta you will see 44 hours, think “no overtime” and never notice the $132.
British Columbia stacks, and pays double
BC is the one province in this calculator that applies the daily and weekly rules together rather than picking one, and it is the one that pays double time. A single 13-hour day at $22.00/hour:
- First 8 hours at regular rate: 8 × 22.00 = $176.00
- Hours 8 to 12 at time and a half: 4 × 22.00 × 1.5 = $132.00
- Hour 13 onward at double time: 1 × 22.00 × 2 = $44.00
- Day total: $352.00
Reference: gov.bc.ca — overtime.
Time off instead of overtime pay
Most provinces allow banked time in place of overtime pay, but on conditions: a written agreement, and time credited at 1.5 hours off for every overtime hour worked — not hour for hour. Without the written agreement, the employer owes the money. Ontario’s version is set out in ontario.ca — overtime pay.
What overtime is calculated on
Your regular hourly rate. Tips are not part of it — they are your income, but they are not the base your employer multiplies by 1.5. If you are on commission or your rate varies between jobs, provinces generally use an average regular rate for the week, which is its own calculation and outside what this tool does.
Overtime is not taxed at a special rate either. It goes into your income like every other dollar. What people notice is that a cheque with a lot of overtime looks like it was taxed harder — that is the payroll system annualising an unusually big pay period, and it comes out in the wash when you file.
If your overtime isn’t being paid
Keep your own record, day by day, with start and finish times. Every employment standards complaint in the country runs on evidence, and a contemporaneous log you kept yourself carries weight that a reconstruction from memory does not. Start with your province’s employment standards office; they handle unpaid overtime claims directly.
JornadaPro exists partly for this: it records each clock-in and clock-out and warns you when a week crosses into overtime, so you find out on Thursday rather than on payday. It works anywhere, in any of the currencies it supports — the Canadian provincial rules are an optional setting, off unless you turn it on.
What people usually ask
How many hours before overtime in Canada?
It depends on the province. Ontario and New Brunswick: after 44 hours in a week. Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador: after 40. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island: after 48. Federally regulated work: after 40. Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan also pay overtime after 8 hours in a single day.
What does the 8/44 rule mean in Alberta?
Overtime is all hours over 8 in a day or over 44 in a week, whichever of the two calculations is greater — the results are not added together. Alberta states this directly at https://www.alberta.ca/overtime-hours-overtime-pay. Four 11-hour shifts give 12 overtime hours daily and zero weekly, so the employee is owed 12.
Is overtime always time and a half in Canada?
Time and a half is the standard rate in every province in this calculator. British Columbia adds double time for hours worked beyond 12 in a single day.
Can my employer give me time off instead of overtime pay?
Generally yes, but only under a written agreement and at 1.5 hours of paid time off for each hour of overtime worked. Without that written agreement the employer must pay the overtime in money.
Do tips count toward my overtime rate?
No. Overtime is calculated on your regular hourly wage. Tips are taxable income but they are not part of the rate that gets multiplied by 1.5.
Is overtime taxed at a higher rate?
No — there is no special tax rate for overtime in Canada. It is taxed as ordinary employment income. A pay period with heavy overtime can show a higher withholding percentage because payroll estimates your annual income from that period, and any over-withholding is settled when you file your return.
General information using 2026 tax year figures. This is not tax or legal advice: confirm with the CRA or your provincial labour ministry.