UPS publishes a holiday schedule for Canada every year: some holidays are closed nationwide, others only in certain provinces. Holidays do not count as business days in delivery times. Before a holiday, check UPS's official schedule for your province and rely on the estimated delivery date shown at the rate step.
How UPS handles holidays in Canada
UPS counts transit time in business days. A holiday when the network does no regular pickup or delivery is treated like a Sunday: it does not count. A parcel shipped the day before a long weekend therefore often lands a day later than it would in a normal week.
The catch in Canada is that holidays are not the same everywhere. Some are national, some provincial, and the same day can be a holiday at origin but not at destination. That is why UPS publishes a Canadian schedule with province-level notes rather than a simple list of dates.
The holidays left in 2026
| Holiday | Date | Calendar status | Check with UPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | Monday, October 12 | Holiday in most provinces, not all of Atlantic Canada | Pickup and delivery that day |
| Remembrance Day | Wednesday, November 11 | Federal holiday; provincial status varies (not a general holiday in Quebec or Ontario) | Province-level notes |
| Christmas Day | Friday, December 25 | Holiday across Canada | Last ship dates before Christmas |
| Boxing Day | Saturday, December 26, often observed Monday the 28th | Varies by province and employer | Whether Monday the 28th is an operating day |
| New Year's Day 2027 | Friday, January 1 | Holiday across Canada | When service resumes |
UPS's schedule changes from year to year and can include exceptions by province or by service. This table gives calendar dates, not UPS's schedule. For a given day's real status, check the holiday schedule UPS Canada publishes and confirm the estimated delivery date at the rate step.
Provincial holidays: where it gets uneven
Holidays such as Family Day in February are not observed in every province, and Quebec has its own, like the Fête nationale. When a holiday only applies in some provinces, service can be closed in one region and normal in another. For an interprovincial shipment, check the holiday at origin AND destination: a parcel can leave without a hitch and wait an extra day on arrival.
Before Christmas: cutoffs and peak season
At year end, UPS publishes ship-by dates per service for delivery before Christmas. Those dates change every year, so do not reuse last year's. Peak season also puts the network under pressure: build in a buffer, especially on ground services, and consider whether an express service is worth the cost for parcels that absolutely must arrive on time.
Planning shipments around a holiday
- Ship earlier in the week before a long weekend, not the day before.
- Check the holiday at origin and destination for interprovincial shipments.
- Tell customers that delivery times are in business days and the holiday does not count.
- For a pickup, confirm it is offered on the day you pick before you pack the parcels.
- Compare estimated dates across carriers: another network may run a different schedule that day.
Compare carriers around a holiday
On MesColis, UPS rates come back with the number of business days in transit, shown next to the other carriers that serve your lane, such as Canada Post. Around a holiday, that is the simplest way to see who will actually arrive first instead of guessing. The account is free, with no contract.