British Columbia: the official figures for 2026

These are all the figures of jurisdictions.british_columbia in the data file: nine loose figures and five tables with 27 rows, each with the statute it comes from, when it took effect and how far it has been verified.

Updated September 6, 2026 · Figures verified against the statutes of each jurisdiction · see all figures and their sources

It is one of the 14 pages of the Jurisdictions block, inside official figures. The raw data is in legal-data-2026.json.

Verified: Read in the primary source: the consolidated text of the statute or regulation itself.
Secondary source: The rule and the starting figures are official, but the resolved figure is not published by any authority: we work it out and show the arithmetic.
Not yet verified: We have not been able to confirm it against the primary source yet. It appears here for transparency and is not published as a firm figure on any other page of the site: the production build stops if anyone tries.

`jurisdictions.british_columbia`

Figures in `jurisdictions.british_columbia`
Key	Value	Source	Validity	Status
`british_columbia.notice.qualifying_service` Under three consecutive months, the Act gives you nothing for length of service.	3 months	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 63 — Liability resulting from length of service	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.severance.exists` British Columbia has no separate statutory severance pay. Section 63 gives one entitlement, compensation for length of service, which is the same thing as termination pay.	No	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 63 — Liability resulting from length of service	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.group_termination.threshold`	50 employees	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 64 — Group terminations	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.group_termination.window` The 50 terminations must fall within any two-month period at a single location.	2 months	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 64 — Group terminations	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.holidays.count` British Columbia calls them statutory holidays. Boxing Day and Easter Monday are not among them, even though the Interpretation Act treats December 26 and Easter Monday as holidays for other purposes.	11	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 1 — Definitions	From 2023-03-09	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.final_pay.hours_after_termination` The Act says 48 hours, not two working days: the clock runs from the moment the employer ends the job.	48 hours	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 18 — If employment is terminated	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.final_pay.days_after_termination` The Act says 48 hours, not two working days. This figure is the 48-hour rule of section 18(1) expressed in days so the calculator can add it to a date; the statutory figure is final_pay.hours_after_termination.	2 days	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 18 — If employment is terminated	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.final_pay.days_after_quit`	6 days	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 18 — If employment is terminated	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06
`british_columbia.complaint.deadline` The clock runs from your last day of employment, not from the day the money should have been paid. Where the job ended after a temporary layoff, the last day of the layoff counts as the last day of employment.	6 months	Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 74 — Complaint and time limit	From 1995-11-01	Verified Reviewed 2026-09-06

Table `british_columbia.notice.schedule.rows`
`service_from_years`	`service_to_years`	`weeks`
0.25 years	1 year	1 week
1 year	3 years	2 weeks
3 years	4 years	3 weeks
4 years	5 years	4 weeks
5 years	6 years	5 weeks
6 years	7 years	6 weeks
7 years	8 years	7 weeks
8 years	—	8 weeks

Source: Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 63 — Liability resulting from length of service. Reviewed on September 6, 2026.

Table `british_columbia.notice.temporary_layoff_limits.rows`
`label`	`max_value`	`max_unit`	`window_value`	`window_unit`	`condition`	`source`	`quote`
Basic limit	13	weeks	20	weeks	This is the limit where you have no right of recall.	bc_esa_s1	in any other case, a layoff of up to 13 weeks in any period of 20 consecutive weeks
Recall period	—	—	—	—	Where you have a right of recall, the layoff can run to the end of the recall period instead. The Act fixes no number of weeks for it.	bc_esa_s1	in the case of an employee who has a right of recall, a layoff that exceeds the specified period within which the employee is entitled to be recalled to employment

Source: Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 1 — Definitions. Reviewed on September 6, 2026.

Table `british_columbia.group_termination.schedule.rows`
`employees_from`	`employees_to`	`weeks`
50	100	8 weeks
101	300	12 weeks
301	—	16 weeks

Source: Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 64 — Group terminations. Reviewed on September 6, 2026.

Table `british_columbia.vacation.schedule.rows`
`service_from_years`	`service_to_years`	`weeks`	`pay_percent`
0 years	1 year	0 weeks	4%
1 year	5 years	2 weeks	4%
5 years	—	3 weeks	6%

Source: Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 57 — Entitlement to annual vacation. Reviewed on September 6, 2026.

Table `british_columbia.holidays.list.rows`
`name`	`date_rule`
New Year's Day	January 1
Family Day	The third Monday of February
Good Friday	The Friday before Easter Sunday
Victoria Day	The Monday before May 25
Canada Day	July 1
British Columbia Day	The first Monday of August
Labour Day	The first Monday of September
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation	September 30
Thanksgiving Day	The second Monday of October
Remembrance Day	November 11
Christmas Day	December 25

Source: Employment Standards Act (BC), s. 1 — Definitions. Reviewed on September 6, 2026.