Are banks open today? What the Bills of Exchange Act says about holidays, and what it does not
Reviewed 4 November 2026
The Bills of Exchange Act does not say whether a bank branch opens on a given day. Section 42 sets which days are legal holidays or non-juridical days for bills of exchange, and the Act is not a schedule of branch opening hours. This page has no source for any bank's branch hours.
What section 42 says
The federal Bills of Exchange Act, section 42, carries the marginal note “Non-juridical days”. It is the only source used for this page's answer, and it applies to bills of exchange and notes:
“In all matters relating to bills of exchange, the following and no other days shall be observed as legal holidays or non-juridical days:
(a) in all the provinces,
(i) Sundays, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is observed on September 30, Remembrance Day and Christmas Day,
(ii) the birthday (or the day fixed by proclamation for the celebration of the birthday) of the reigning Sovereign,
(iii) any day appointed by proclamation to be observed as a public holiday, or as a day of general prayer or mourning or day of public rejoicing or thanksgiving, throughout Canada, and
(iv) the day next following New Year’s Day, Christmas Day and the birthday of the reigning Sovereign (if no other day is fixed by proclamation for the celebration of the birthday) when those days respectively fall on a Sunday;
(b) in any province, any day appointed by proclamation of the lieutenant governor of the province to be observed as a public holiday, or for a fast or thanksgiving within the province, and any day that is a non-juridical day by virtue of an Act of the legislature of the province; and
(c) in any city, town, municipality or other organized district, any day appointed to be observed as a civic holiday by resolution of the council, or other authority charged with the administration of the civic or municipal affairs of the city, town, municipality or district.”
Section 42(a)(i) does not name Boxing Day or Easter Monday. Paragraphs (b) and (c) add days appointed by a province, by its legislature or by a municipality; the Act does not list those days.
“non-business days means days directed by this Act to be observed as legal holidays or non-juridical days, and any other day is a business day;”
Days named in section 42(a)(i), with 2027 dates
The Act prints no dates, so the table applies each named day's rule. The table leaves out Sundays (the Act names every Sunday), the Sovereign's birthday and days appointed by proclamation. Section 42(a)(iv) adds the day after New Year's Day or Christmas Day when those fall on a Sunday; in 2027 New Year's Day is on Friday, January 1, 2027 and Christmas Day on Saturday, December 25, 2027, so neither falls on a Sunday.
| Date | Weekday | Named in section 42(a)(i) |
|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2027 | Friday | New Year's Day |
| March 26, 2027 | Friday | Good Friday |
| May 24, 2027 | Monday | Victoria Day |
| July 1, 2027 | Thursday | Canada Day |
| September 6, 2027 | Monday | Labour Day |
| September 30, 2027 | Thursday | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation |
| November 11, 2027 | Thursday | Remembrance Day |
| December 25, 2027 | Saturday | Christmas Day |
What the Act says about branches and cheques
The Act also covers a branch that is not open on a business day, and cheques presented on a Saturday or a non-juridical day. Neither provision sets branch hours.
“In all matters relating to bills or notes, notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if a branch of a bank carrying on business is not open for business on a business day
(a) the time for doing any act or thing at the branch, if the time expires or falls on that day, is deemed to expire or fall, as the case may be, on the next following business day on which the branch is open for business;
(b) a bill or note payable on demand cannot be duly presented for acceptance or payment at the branch on that day; and
(c) failure to do any act or thing by reason of the branch not being open for business on that day does not give rise to any rights.”
“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a cheque may be presented and paid on a Saturday or a non-juridical day if the drawee is open for business at the time of the presentment and the presentment in all other respects is in accordance with this Act, and the non-acceptance or non-payment of a cheque so presented gives rise to the same rights as though it had been presented on a business day other than a Saturday.”
What this page cannot tell you
- It cannot tell whether a particular branch, ATM or online service is available on a date; that is outside the Act.
- It does not use the Bank of Canada or any bank as a source, and it makes no claim about hours.
- Provincial and municipal days count under section 42(b) and (c) only as the Act words them; for the provincial lists see the stat holiday checker and the 2027 statutory holidays overview, which are employment standards lists, not the Bills of Exchange Act.
Frequently asked questions
Are banks open today in Canada?
The Bills of Exchange Act does not say whether a bank branch opens on a given day. Section 42 lists the days observed as legal holidays or non-juridical days in matters relating to bills of exchange, and the Act is not a schedule of branch opening hours.
Which days does the Bills of Exchange Act treat as holidays?
Section 42 of the Bills of Exchange Act says that in all matters relating to bills of exchange “the following and no other days shall be observed as legal holidays or non-juridical days”. They include Sundays, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, September 30, Remembrance Day and Christmas Day in all provinces; the birthday of the reigning Sovereign (or the day fixed by proclamation for celebrating it); days appointed by proclamation to be observed throughout Canada as a public holiday or for general prayer, mourning, rejoicing or thanksgiving; and the day next following New Year’s Day, Christmas Day and the birthday of the reigning Sovereign when those days respectively fall on a Sunday. Provincial days and municipal civic holidays are added by paragraphs (b) and (c).
Is Boxing Day or Easter Monday a non-juridical day under the Bills of Exchange Act?
Section 42(a)(i) of the Bills of Exchange Act does not name Boxing Day or Easter Monday. Paragraphs (b) and (c) bring in days appointed by a province by proclamation or by an Act of its legislature, and civic holidays appointed by a municipality.
Does the Bills of Exchange Act deal with a branch that is not open for business?
Yes, in section 6(4) the Bills of Exchange Act covers a branch of a bank carrying on business that is not open for business on a business day: time limits at the branch run to the next following business day on which it opens for business, and a demand bill cannot be duly presented at the branch on that day. It does not say which days a branch is not open.
Can a cheque be presented on a Saturday or a non-juridical day?
Section 6(3) of the Bills of Exchange Act says a cheque may be presented and paid on a Saturday or a non-juridical day “if the drawee is open for business at the time of the presentment”, with the presentment otherwise in accordance with the Act.
What does the Bills of Exchange Act define as non-business days?
The Bills of Exchange Act defines non-business days as “days directed by this Act to be observed as legal holidays or non-juridical days”, and says any other day is a business day. The definition is about bills and notes, not about when a branch serves customers.
More Canada pages
- Statutory holidays 2027: federal and provincial
- Ontario public holidays 2027
- Alberta general holidays 2027
- B.C. statutory holidays 2027
- Manitoba general holidays 2027
- Is today a stat holiday? Checker
- Canada Post holidays
- Is Remembrance Day a stat holiday?
- Family Day 2027
- U.S. bank holidays 2027 (a different country’s list)
Sources
- Canada Labour Code (Justice Laws), general holidays
- Canada.ca: Annual vacations and general holidays for employees of federally regulated employers
- Interpretation Act (Justice Laws), definition of “holiday”
- Ontario: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Public holidays
- Ontario: Employment Standards Act, 2000
- Alberta: Alberta general holidays
- B.C.: Statutory holidays, Internet Archive exact capture of 3 October 2026
- B.C.: Statutory holidays (original page; gave no usable response to plain curl)
- B.C.: Employment Standards Act (BC Laws)
- Manitoba: General Holidays fact sheet
- Saskatchewan: List of Saskatchewan Public Holidays
- Saskatchewan: The Saskatchewan Employment Act (section 2-30)
- Nova Scotia: Holiday Pay (Labour Standards Code)
- Bills of Exchange Act (Justice Laws)
- Canada Post: Canada Post holiday schedule
- Canada Post: Mail and parcel delivery hours and days
Reviewed 4 November 2026 against the sources in the list. FedRateCalc is not affiliated with the Government of Canada, any province or territory, or Canada Post; the sources in the list are the official sources, and any later change they publish overrides this site. Pages fetched with plain curl were retrieved on 3 November 2026 (UTC); the B.C. page is an Internet Archive exact capture of 3 October 2026.