Overtime Pay Rules in Canada: Salaried, Hourly, and by Province
Content last verified against official statutes: September 2, 2026
Quick Answer
Federal employees earn 1.5x pay after 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week (CLC s.174). Provincial thresholds vary (Ontario is 44 hours/week, BC is 8 hours/day). Most salaried employees are entitled to overtime. Federal unpaid-overtime complaints are due within 6 months, and payment orders can reach back 24 months (CLC s.251.01, s.251.1).
Do salaried employees get overtime in Canada?
Yes, in most cases. No Canadian employment standards statute ties the overtime entitlement to being paid by the hour. The Canada Labour Code and every provincial and territorial Act set a standard number of hours and require a premium beyond it, whether the employee is paid a salary, an hourly wage, or a commission. Being paid a salary is not itself an exemption, and neither is a job title.
What removes the entitlement is falling inside a specific statutory exemption. Those exemptions are written around the work actually performed — genuine management functions, or membership in a listed profession — and they are narrow. The tests in the four largest jurisdictions and federally read as follows.
- Federal (Canada Labour Code)
- Division I of Part III, which contains the hours of work and overtime standards, does not apply to managers or superintendents, or to other employees who exercise management functions, or to members of a listed profession (CLC s.167(2)). The exemption turns on the functions actually performed, not on the job title or on being paid a salary.
- Ontario
- The Ministry's guide states that managers and supervisors do not qualify for overtime if the work they do is managerial or supervisory, and that they remain outside the entitlement where non-managerial tasks are performed only on an irregular or exceptional basis. An employee who spends most of the week doing the same work as the team is generally not in the exemption.
- British Columbia
- Part 4 of the Employment Standards Act, the hours of work and overtime Part, does not apply to a manager (Employment Standards Regulation s.34(f)). "Manager" is defined in s.1 of the Regulation as a person whose principal employment responsibilities consist of supervising or directing, or both supervising and directing, human or other resources, or a person employed in an executive capacity.
- Alberta
- The overtime rules do not apply to managers, supervisors and employees in a confidential capacity, nor to a listed set of professionals: architects, certified or chartered accountants, engineers, lawyers, psychologists and veterinarians, among others.
- Quebec
- The 40-hour regular workweek used to compute overtime does not apply to the managerial personnel of an undertaking (ARLS s.54(3)), and senior managerial personnel are outside the Act altogether apart from a short list of standards such as the family and parental leaves (s.3(6)).
Where an employer treats a salaried employee as exempt, the exemption list in that jurisdiction’s legislation is what decides the question, not the wording of the offer letter. A misclassified employee remains entitled to the overtime that was not paid, subject to the recovery periods set out below and on the wage theft page.
Overtime thresholds by province and territory (2026)
The daily and weekly columns are the hours after which the overtime rate applies. Where a jurisdiction has both, either threshold can trigger overtime on its own. Every row links to the full guide for that jurisdiction.
| Jurisdiction | Daily threshold | Weekly threshold | Overtime rate | Averaging permitted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal (Canada Labour Code) | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x the regular rate | Yes — where the nature of the work requires irregular hours (s.169(2)); a modified schedule needs union agreement or 70% approval (s.170) |
| Alberta | 8 hours | 44 hours | 1.5x the regular wage | Yes — an averaging arrangement over 1 to 52 weeks, on 2 weeks' written notice |
| British Columbia | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x the regular wage; 2x after 12 hours in a day | Yes — a written agreement covering 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks (ESA s.37) |
| Manitoba | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x the regular wage | Yes — an averaging permit from Employment Standards, or an individual flextime agreement |
| New Brunswick | None | 44 hours | 1.5x the minimum wage ($23.85 from April 1, 2026) | Not verified against an official source |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | None | 40 hours | 1.5x the minimum wage ($24.53 from April 1, 2026) | No general averaging provision; overtime may be taken as 1.5 hours off per overtime hour (s.25(2)) |
| Nova Scotia | None | 48 hours | 1.5x the regular wage | Yes — by agreement, over a pre-determined repeating work cycle |
| Ontario | None | 44 hours | 1.5x the regular rate | Yes — a written or electronic agreement averaging 2 to 4 weeks |
| Prince Edward Island | None | 44 hours | 1.5x the regular wage rate | Yes — a written averaging agreement over 2 to 4 weeks (s.25) |
| Quebec | None | 40 hours | A 50% premium on the regular wage | Yes — with CNESST authorization, or by written agreement over a maximum of 4 weeks (s.53) |
| Saskatchewan | 8 hours (10 on an approved 4-day week) | 40 hours | 1.5x the hourly wage | Yes — a modified work arrangement or an averaging of hours permit, up to 4 weeks |
| Northwest Territories | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x the regular wage | Yes — under an overtime averaging order |
| Nunavut | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x the regular wage | Yes — under an overtime averaging permit from the Labour Standards Officer |
| Yukon | 8 hours | 40 hours | 1.5x the regular wage | Yes — an averaging agreement; a Director's permit is needed beyond two weeks |
New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador set the overtime rate as a multiple of the minimum wage rather than of the employee’s own wage, so an employee already earning above that figure can receive no premium at all. The averaging rule for New Brunswick could not be confirmed against an official source and is marked as such in the table. Every other figure comes from the statute or the government guidance page listed in the sources below.
The Short Answer
If you work more than the standard hours of work, your employer must pay you overtime at a rate of at least 1.5 times your regular hourly wage, or provide time off in lieu at 1.5 times the overtime hours worked. The threshold for overtime depends on whether you are federally or provincially regulated. Most employees are entitled to overtime pay, and the common belief that salaried employees are exempt is largely a myth in Canada.
Federal Overtime Rules
Under the Canada Labour Code (s.174), the standard hours of work for federally regulated employees are 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. Any hours worked beyond these thresholds must be compensated at 1.5 times the employee's regular rate of pay. Alternatively, if both the employer and employee agree in writing, the employee can receive time off in lieu of overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 hours of time off for each hour of overtime worked (CLC s.174(2)). For example, if you work 4 hours of overtime, you are entitled to 6 hours of paid time off. Federal industries include banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transportation, airlines, and postal services.
Provincial Overtime Thresholds
Each province sets its own overtime threshold and rules. In Ontario, overtime begins after 44 hours per week (not 40). In British Columbia, overtime is 1.5x after 8 hours per day and double time after 12 hours per day. In Alberta, overtime begins after 8 hours per day or 44 hours per week. In Quebec, overtime begins after 40 hours per week. Saskatchewan uses 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. Manitoba uses 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. Other provinces have their own specific thresholds. The table above sets out all 14 jurisdictions, and each row links to the full provincial guide.
Who Is Entitled to Overtime
The short answer is: most employees. Being salaried does not automatically exempt you from overtime. In Canada, overtime exemptions are narrow and specific. Under federal law, the main exemptions apply to managers and superintendents who perform management functions (not employees with a "manager" title who mostly do the same work as their team). Under provincial law, exemptions vary but typically cover true managers, certain professionals (doctors, lawyers, architects), and specific industries. If your employer claims you are exempt from overtime, verify this against the specific exemption list in your jurisdiction's legislation. Many employers incorrectly classify employees as exempt.
Common Employer Violations
Unpaid overtime is one of the most common workplace violations in Canada. Typical violations include requiring employees to work through lunch breaks without compensation, requiring employees to check emails or be on call outside regular hours without pay, averaging hours over multiple weeks to avoid daily overtime thresholds (this is only permitted with specific authorization under the CLC), misclassifying employees as managers to avoid paying overtime, pressuring employees to not record all hours worked, and offering straight time off instead of the legally required 1.5x time off in lieu. If your employer is doing any of these, they may be violating the law.
How to Recover Unpaid Overtime
Under the Canada Labour Code, an unpaid-wages complaint, including overtime, is due within 6 months of the day the wages were owed (CLC s.251.01(2)), and a payment order can cover wages from up to 24 months before the complaint (s.251.1(1.1)). Unpaid-wage complaints are received by the Labour Program at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which asks for evidence of the hours worked, so a personal record of start times, end times, and any work performed outside regular hours carries weight. Emails with timestamps, calendar entries, building access logs, and similar records document work hours. For provincially regulated employees, each province's employment standards office receives the equivalent claim, and the recovery period varies by province.
Overtime and Averaging Agreements
Under the Canada Labour Code, an employer can average hours of work over a period of two or more weeks where the nature of the work requires irregular hours (CLC s.169(2)), and can put in place a modified work schedule (s.170). A modified schedule needs the agreement of the union where there is one, or, where there is none, the written approval of the affected employee (for an individual schedule) or of at least 70% of the affected employees (for a group schedule). There is no application to the Minister. Overtime is then calculated against the averaged or modified standard rather than the daily and weekly thresholds. An employer cannot unilaterally average hours to avoid paying overtime; a copy of the written agreement or approval is the record to ask for. Provincial rules around averaging and compressed work weeks also vary, and the averaging column in the table above sets out what each jurisdiction permits.
Key Deadlines
For federal employees, an unpaid overtime complaint is due within 6 months of the day the wages were owed (CLC s.251.01(2)), and a payment order can reach back up to 24 months before the complaint date (s.251.1(1.1)). Provincial limitation periods vary, but most provinces allow recovery of unpaid wages for a period of six months to two years. The earlier a claim is made, the more of the period remains recoverable. Detailed hour records support a claim whether or not one is ever made.
Overtime in Canada: frequently asked questions
- Do salaried employees get overtime in Canada?
- In most cases, yes. Nothing in the Canada Labour Code or in any provincial employment standards statute ties the overtime entitlement to being paid hourly. The entitlement is lost only where an employee falls inside a specific statutory exemption, and those exemptions are written around the work actually performed — genuine management functions, or membership in a listed profession — rather than around the method of payment. A salaried employee outside an exemption is owed overtime for hours past the standard, calculated on the hourly equivalent of the salary.
- Is it the law to pay overtime after 40 hours in Canada?
- Only in some jurisdictions. Forty hours is the weekly standard federally and in British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island use 44 hours, and Nova Scotia uses 48. Several jurisdictions also have a daily threshold of 8 hours that triggers overtime independently of the weekly total, so a 38-hour week containing one 11-hour day can still produce overtime.
- Can an employer make a salaried worker exempt just by giving them a manager title?
- No. Every jurisdiction that exempts managers frames the test around function. Federally, the Canada Labour Code exempts those who are managers or superintendents or who exercise management functions (s.167(2)). Ontario's guide says the exemption applies where the work done is managerial or supervisory, and that non-managerial work performed only on an irregular or exceptional basis does not change that. British Columbia's regulation defines a manager as a person whose principal employment responsibilities consist of supervising or directing human or other resources, or who is employed in an executive capacity. A title on an offer letter is not the test.
- How is overtime calculated for a salaried employee?
- The regular rate is derived from the salary. The usual method converts the salary into an hourly figure using the hours the salary is intended to cover, then applies the statutory multiplier to hours past the standard. In Quebec the entitlement is expressed differently: any work beyond the regular workweek carries a premium of 50% of the prevailing hourly wage (ARLS s.55), which comes to the same 1.5 times figure.
- Can an employer average hours over several weeks instead of paying overtime?
- Only where the jurisdiction permits it and its conditions are met. Federally, hours may be averaged where the nature of the work necessitates irregular hours (CLC s.169(2)), and a modified schedule needs union agreement or the approval of at least 70% of affected employees (s.170). British Columbia requires a written agreement covering 1 to 4 weeks (ESA s.37); Ontario a written or electronic agreement averaging 2 to 4 weeks; Quebec either CNESST authorization or a written agreement over a maximum of 4 weeks (ARLS s.53); Alberta an averaging arrangement of 1 to 52 weeks on 2 weeks' written notice; Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut work through permits or orders. Averaging applied unilaterally, without the agreement or permit the statute requires, does not remove the overtime entitlement.
- Can overtime be taken as time off instead of pay?
- In most jurisdictions, yes, with the employee's agreement and at the overtime rate. Federally, time off in lieu is credited at 1.5 hours for each overtime hour where the employer and employee agree in writing (CLC s.174(2)). Ontario uses the same 1.5 ratio, normally taken within 3 months and up to 12 months by agreement. Alberta is the outlier: banked overtime is credited at 1 hour off per overtime hour. Straight-time-for-overtime banking is not what the federal and most provincial rules provide.
- How far back can unpaid overtime be recovered?
- Federally, an unpaid-wages complaint is due within 6 months of the day the wages were owed (CLC s.251.01(2)), and a payment order can reach back up to 24 months before the complaint (s.251.1(1.1)). Provincial recovery periods differ; Ontario, for example, allows an employment standards claim within 2 years of the contravention (ESA s.96(3)). The limitation period runs from the day the wages were owed, so each pay period has its own deadline.