World Travel Guide Search for a City   Destination Guides > North America > Canada Canada •  Canada   · Where To Go •  When To Go •  Getting There •  Red Tape And Visas •  Information, Web Sites And Maps •  Travellers With Disabilities •  Insurance, Crime And Personal Safety •  Costs, Money And Banks •  Health •  Getting Around •  Eating And Drinking •  Communications, Post, Phones, And The Media •  History •  Language •  Emergency Number •  Opening Hours, Time Zones And Holidays •  Nature •  Spectator Sports •  Directory •  Canada's Aboriginal Peoples •  Books •  Explore Canada CANADA - OPENING HOURS, TIME ZONES AND HOLIDAYS Canada    view all cities Top Destinations •  Calgary •  Edmonton •  Halifax •  Montreal •  Ottawa •  Quebec City •  St John's •  Toronto •  Vancouver •  Victoria •  Winnipeg Most shops and supermarkets open from about 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday, though in bigger towns and cities supermarkets and malls may open as early as 7.30am and close around 9pm. Enforced Sunday closing of shops, bars and restaurants operates over much of the country, but a growing number of provinces now have limited Sunday hours, usually 9am to 5pm, particularly in touristy areas. As a general rule, between BC and Quebec there are limited Sunday opening hours; and east of Quebec shops will be shut on Sunday. Many retail shops open late on Thursday and Friday evenings. In cities you usually find a pharmacist open 24 hours and there's often a convenience store like Mac's or 7-11 that's open around the clock. Time of year makes a big difference to opening times of information centres, museums and other attractions, most of which, particularly in remote areas, have shorter winter hours or close altogether from late September to mid-May. In cities, more upmarket restaurants usually open from around noon to 11pm, longer at weekends; many diner-type places, however, close around 8pm, and small-town restaurants tend to close early too. Opening regulations for bars - often part of a hotel or restaurant - vary tremendously from province to province; most open daily from 10am to 1am, but in certain areas all bars except a few hotel lounges are shut on Sunday. National holidays New Year's Day (Jan 1) Good Friday Easter Sunday Easter Monday Victoria Day (third Mon in May) Canada Day (July 1) Labour Day (first Mon in Sept) Thanksgiving (second Mon in Oct) Remembrance Day (Nov 11) Christmas Day (Dec 25) Boxing Day (Dec 26) Provincial holidays Alberta Alberta Family Day (third Mon in Feb); Heritage Day (first Mon in Aug). British Columbia British Columbia Day (first Monday in August). New Brunswick New Brunswick Day (first Mon in Aug). Newfoundland and Labrador St Patrick's Day (March 17); St George's Day (third Mon in April); Discovery Day (third Mon in June); Memorial Day (first Mon in July); Orangeman's Day (third Mon in July). Nova Scotia, Manitoba, NWT, Ontario and Saskatchewan Civic Holiday (first Mon in Aug). Nunavut Nunavut Day (April 1). Quebec Epiphany (Jan 6); Ash Wednesday; Ascension (forty days after Easter); Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24); All Saint's Day (Nov 1); Immaculate Conception (Dec 8). Yukon Discovery Day (third Mon in Aug). Time zones Canada has six time zones, but only 4.5hrs separate Newfoundland from British Columbia. Newfoundland is on Newfoundland Standard Time (3hr 30min behind GMT); the Maritimes and Labrador are on Atlantic Standard Time (4hr behind GMT); Quebec and most of Ontario are on Eastern Standard Time (5hr behind GMT); Manitoba, the northwest corner of Ontario and eastern Saskatchewan are on Central Standard Time (6hr behind GMT); west Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and a slice of northeast British Columbia are on Mountain Standard Time (7hr behind GMT), and the Yukon and the bulk of British Columbia are on Pacific Standard Time (8hr behind GMT). Nunavut runs from Mountain Standard Time to Atlantic Standard Time. Daylight saving - when the clocks are put forward one hour - is in effect in all regions except Saskatchewan and northeast British Columbia from the first Sunday in April to the last Saturday in October. Train, bus and plane timetables are always given in local time; something it's worth bearing in mind if you're making long journeys across several zones. Most timetables use the 24-hour clock; those that do not, notably Greyhound bus schedules, use light type for am, bold for pm. Daylight saving time takes effect in Canada in all regions except Saskatchewan and the northeast corner of British Columbia. Clocks go forward one hour on the first Sunday of April, and back one hour on the last Sunday in October. Festivals and events For further details of the selected festivals and events listed below, including more precise dates, see the relevant page of the Guide , or contact the local authorities direct. The provincial tourist offices can provide free calendars for each area. JANUARY Polar Bear Swim , Vancouver, BC. A New Year's Day swim in the freezing waters of English Bay Beach - said to bring good luck for the year. Banff/Lake Louise Winter Festival , Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta. Ski races, skating parties and the incredible International Ice Sculpture Competition on the shores of Lake Louise. FEBRUARY Winterlude , Ottawa, Ontario. Winter-warming activities like ice sculpting, snowshoe races, ice boating and skating for all on the canal. Winter Carnival , Quebec City, Quebec. Eleven-day festival of winter-sports competitions, ice-sculpture contests and parades. Includes the Canadian ski marathon when skiers race between Lachute and Gatineau. MARCH Pacific Rim Whale Festival , Vancouver Island, BC. Celebrating the spring migration of grey whales with lots of whale-spotting expeditions as well as music and dance events. APRIL TerrifVic Jazz Party , Victoria, BC. Dixieland, and other jazz bands, from around the globe. Shaw Festival , Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Highly regarded theatre festival featuring the work of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. Performances from April to late October. MAY Apple Blossom Festival , Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. Community-oriented festival held in the small towns and villages of the apple-producing Annapolis Valley. Stratford Festival , Stratford, Ontario. The small town of Stratford is well-known for its first-class Shakespeare Festival. Runs from May to early November. Canadian Tulip Festival , Ottawa, Ontario. Three million tulips in an orgy of colour all over the city. JUNE Jazz City International Festival , Edmonton, Alberta. Ten days of jazz concerts, free outdoor events and workshops. Banff Festival of the Arts , Banff, Alberta. Young-artist showcase - music, opera, dance, drama, comedy and visual arts. International Blues Festival , Halifax, Nova Scotia. Big musical event showcasing the best of US and Maritime blues. Metro International Caravan , Toronto, Ontario. Nine-day multiethnic celebration with some fifty pavilions dotted across the city. International Jazz Festival, Montreal, Quebec. 2000 jazz acts, including the world's top names, and 75 percent of the performances are free. JULY Pow-wows . Traditional aboriginal celebrations that take place on reserves across the country in July and August. Calgary Stampede , Calgary, Alberta. One of the biggest rodeos in the world: all the usual cowboy trappings, plus hot-air-balloon races, chuck-wagon rides, craft exhibitions, native dancing and a host of other happenings. Billed as the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". Klondike Days , Edmonton, Alberta. Pioneer era in Edmonton revisited with gold panning, raft races, pancake breakfasts and gambling. Loyalist City Festival , Saint John, New Brunswick. Celebration of the city's loyalist heritage with parades in period costume. Antigonish Highland Games , Antigonish, Nova Scotia. All sorts of traditional Scottish sports and activities recall the settlement of the area by Highlanders. Atlantic Jazz Festival , Halifax, Nova Scotia. First-class jazz festival pulling in big names from round the world. Canada Day , Ottawa, Ontario and throughout Canada. Fireworks, parades and a day off for patriotic shenanigans. Caribana Festival , Toronto, Ontario. Large-scale West Indian carnival with music, dance and a flamboyant parade. Festival d'Été , Quebec City, Quebec. Arts performances, live bands and other shows on and off the sun-filled streets and parks of Quebec City. Juste Pour Rire , Montreal, Quebec. The funniest festival in Canada. Internationally acclaimed comic get-together with comedians from around the world performing in theatres and outdoor stages. AUGUST Fringe Theatre Festival , Edmonton, Alberta. One of North America's most prestigious alternative-theatre festivals. Squamish Days Loggers Sports Festival , Squamish, BC. The continent's biggest lumberjacks' convention with impressive logging competitions. Acadian Festival , Caraquet, New Brunswick. Celebration of Acadian culture in the northeast of New Brunswick. Miramichi Folk Song Festival , Newcastle, New Brunswick. New Brunswick's prestigious folk festival, featuring many of the finest fiddlers in the Maritimes. Nova Scotia Gaelic Mod , South Gut, St Ann's, Nova Scotia. Seven-day Scottish heritage knees-up with all traditional sports, crafts and contests featured. One of the biggest and best of many similar events in Nova Scotia. World Film Festival , Montreal, Quebec. Eclipsed by Toronto's new film festival, but still a good showcase for new movies. SEPTEMBER Toronto International Film Festival , Toronto, Ontario. Internationally acclaimed film festival spread over ten days, inundated with Hollywood stars. OCTOBER Vancouver International Film Festival , Vancouver, BC. Another of Canada's highly rated film fests. Okanagan Wine Festival , Okanagan, BC. One of the many wine events in this vine-growing region. Oktoberfest , Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. Alcohol and cultural events in honour of the twin towns' roots. NOVEMBER Canadian Finals Rodeo , Edmonton, Alberta. Pure Canuck rodeo. Royal Agricultural Winter Fair , Toronto, Ontario. The world's largest agricultural indoor fair, apparently. DECEMBER Coral Ships , Vancouver, BC. When carol singers sail around Vancouver harbour in sparkly boats. New Year's Eve , throughout Canada, but celebrated in style in St John's, Newfoundland, where everyone heads from the pub to the waterfront for a raucous midnight party. Holidays Banks, schools and government buildings all over the country close on Canada's national holidays , and within specific regions on the provincial holidays that fall on certain - often moveable - days throughout the year. Many shops, restaurants, museums and sights remain open, however. Campsites, smaller information centres, B&Bs and many resort hotels often use Victoria Day and Labour Day or Thanksgiving as markers for their open and closed seasons. University students have their holidays from May to early September (plus a one- or two-week break in March), while schoolchildren take theirs from the end of June to Labour Day.