IT workplace culture and working conditions in Canada

A friendly working environment, 9 paid holidays, 2 weeks of annual leave, and 10 more kinds of paid leaves when needed — all this is offered to those who choose to work full-time in Canada.

Workplace environment

Canadian working culture may be different from that of your home country. First, it’s less hierarchical and more egalitarian compared to many Asian countries. Although employees still have to follow instructions, they are to a much higher extent expected to show initiative, identify problems, suggest solutions, and discuss steps that need to be taken.

At the same time, newcomers often notice that Canadians are less direct when giving feedback. While wanting to seem polite, they often wrap their negative ideas into positive comments. For example, if you’ve been told “Great job! The code you wrote is good and would be even better if you structured it more carefully. Nicely done for the first project” — it’s not a reason to ask for promotion as it may be negative feedback in disguise.

Remember that soft skills (ability to work in team, flexibility, open-mindedness, politeness, positive attitude, time management, tolerance, etc.) can be even more important than your technical (hard) skills. Socializing, doing small talk, and participating in team meetings are equally important.

Full-time and contract jobs

Another thing you need to know is that there are several types of employment in Canada. The most common ones are full-time and contract jobs. They are different in many things:

Employment term. Full-time jobs often have unlimited employment, and contract employment usually has a limited duration, and renewals don’t depend on the quality of your work in most cases. Contract work has a set length of time working for a specific employer.
Leaves and vacations. Full-time workers have sick leaves, personal days, annual leave, and other types of leaves, while contract workers don’t have any paid leaves.
Bonuses. Full-time workers may be offered bonuses depending on the company, while contractors are not usually entitled to additional payments.
Salaries. Contract workers are paid 10–20% higher than full-time workers in the same occupation. Contract workers’ salary is calculated per hour while full-time workers’ remuneration is calculated per annum.

→ IT salaries in Canada

The majority of IT workers prefer full-time employment as it offers benefits such as paid leaves and predictable income.

Working hours

On the federal level, the standard hours of work in Canada are 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. Employees are entitled to at least 1 full day of rest each week, which usually falls on a Sunday.

Specific provinces of Canada also have their own rules. For example, in Alberta, an employee may work a maximum of 12 hours a day. In Ontario, the maximum limits are 48 hours a week.

In British Columbia and Quebec, an employee must have at least 32 hours in a row free from work each week. In Ontario, an employee must have 11 consecutive hours off work each day and 24 consecutive hours off work each workweek.

In most cases, employees must be paid time-and-a-half (1.5 regular rates of pay) for overtime hours worked.

Holidays

All workers in Canada are entitled to 9 paid holidays every year if they have worked for the same employer for at least 30 workdays in the 12 months before the holiday. These holidays are:

New Year’s Day (January 1)
Good Friday (Friday before Easter)
Victoria Day (Monday before May 25)
Canada Day (July 1)
Labour Day (first Monday in September)
Thanksgiving Day (second Monday in October)
Remembrance Day (November 11)
Christmas Day (December 25)
Boxing Day (December 26)

Some of them (like Boxing Day in Alberta and British Columbia, or Good Friday in Quebec) may be optional in several provinces. Some provinces also may have additional paid holidays, for example, Alberta Family Day (third Monday in February) in Alberta, B.C. Day (August 3) in British Columbia, Family Day (February 17) in British Columbia and Ontario, and the National Holiday (June 24) in Quebec.

Annual leave

On the federal level, employees are entitled to a minimum of 2 weeks of annual leave after having worked for 1 year with the same employer. After 5 years of employment, the annual leave increases to 3 weeks per year. The reference year is usually from May 1 to April 30, but the employer may set other dates.

Vacation pay must be at least 4% of the gross wages earned in the 12-month reference year for employees with less than 5 years (or 3 years in Quebec) of employment or 6% for those who have worked more than 5 years.

Sick leave

On the federal level, all employees are also entitled to sick leave of up to 17 weeks. If a medical leave is 3 days or longer, the employer may require a certificate issued by a doctor.

Canadian provinces set their own rules regarding sick leaves. For example, employees in Alberta can take up to 16 weeks of sick leave each calendar year if they have been employed at least 90 days with the same employer. In Quebec, an employee may be absent from work for up to 26 weeks over 12 months due to sickness. In British Columbia and Ontario, employees can also take up to 3 days of unpaid sick leave if they have been employed for 90 calendar days (in BC) or 2 consecutive weeks (in Ontario).

Apart from sick leaves, there are also other types of leaves:

Maternity leave — up to 17 weeks (for all female employees)
Parental leave — 63–71 weeks (for natural and adoptive parents)
Compassionate care leave — up to 28 weeks (to look after a family member who has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death)
Leave related to critical illness — up to 37 weeks to provide care or support to the child and up to 17 weeks to provide care or support to the adult
Bereavement leave — 5 days (in the event of a death of an immediate family member)
Leave related to the death of a child — up to 104 weeks
Leave related to the disappearance of a child — up to 52 weeks
Personal leave — up to 5 days per year
Leave for victims of family violence — up to 10 days (for victims of family violence or the parents of a child who is a victim of family violence)

Ending employment

Employees in Canada don’t have to give their employer notice if they choose to quit. However, if the employer chooses to terminate a position, they must provide the employee with at least 2 weeks’ written notice or pay 2 weeks’ regular wages.

The notice period depends on the length of employment. Here are a few examples:

Alberta:

0–90 days of employment: no notice is required
91 day to 2 years: 1 week of notice
2 years or more: 2 weeks of notice

British Columbia and Ontario:

3 months to 1 year: 1 week of notice
1 year to 3 years: 2 weeks of notice
3 or more years: 3 weeks of notice (plus 1 week of notice/pay for each additional year of employment, to a maximum of 8 weeks)

Quebec:

3 months to 1 year: 1 week of notice
1 to 5 years: 2 weeks of notice
5 to 10 years: 4 weeks of notice
10 years or more: 8 weeks of notice

Canadian workplace culture may be different from that of other countries. But you can be sure to find many upsides and growth opportunities there.