If we hadn’t had this long weekend, we wouldn’t have come and wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore the city, points out Jorge Raad, a Bostonian who is visiting Montreal with his wife for a few days. .
Between the holidays and Easter, however, Quebec goes it alone.
Other provinces are taking a break for Family Day (Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan), Islander Day (Prince Edward Island), and Louis Riel Day (Manitoba). How Americans celebrate Presidents Day.
Sounds like a good idea to me. There’s Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, so why not Family Day? says an American tourist using the long weekend in Montreal. It’s a good time, two months after the holidays, his wife adds.
“Especially at this time of the year, a public holiday is missing from the calendar. I think it would give a little boost to people who need a break after working hard since Christmas. »
— A quote from Renaud Faucher, a Montrealer Renaud Faucher, between running steps.
The children will soon have a break, but when we work we don’t have that time to go outside to do outdoor activities, adds Léonie Hottote.
Prime Minister François Legault has already said he opposes introducing a public holiday after the Queen’s death and in 2021 when Ottawa adds a public holiday for National Health Day. truth and reconciliation. The costs would be too high, he says.
We are not currently analyzing the addition of additional public holidays, Labor Minister Jean Boulet’s press secretary said in writing on Sunday.
$750 million a day
The impact of the addition of a public holiday on Quebec’s economy is estimated to be approximately $750 million from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), according to its director of provincial affairs for Quebec, Francis Bérubé. The bill rises to 3.6 billion for the whole country.
The CFIB believes that the current number of public holidays is satisfactory and that companies that want to improve work-life balance, for example, and are able to adjust work organization, can do so with other levers.
For us, [une journée fériée supplémentaire] is not welcome. That’s a day’s lost productivity for businesses.
For all businesses, adding a holiday has the potential to have a negative impact on the economy. On a case-by-case basis, there may be a positive impact for some companies but not for others. It all depends on the work organization, the type of company and the type of activity, Nuance Francis Bérubé.
A public holiday, he adds, is a guideline that applies to all businesses regardless of their corporate reality, so it’s not a path that’s necessarily viewed positively by our members.
He observes a change in the labor market with regard to flexible working hours and the compatibility of work and family. We see many changes in work organization that meet these needs, especially in teleworking.
Some companies are adjusting schedules to allow their employees to take advantage of spring break, for example. A level of attractiveness for staff retention in the context of labor shortages, Mr. Bérubé continues.
Tour of Canada
- Yukon (11 public holidays)
- British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nunavut and Yukon (10 Public Holidays)
- Ontario and Alberta (9 Holidays)
- Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (8 public holidays)
- Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia (6 Holidays)
With information from Frédéric Pépin