The Ontario provincial government is planning to allow stores to open on Family Day and Victoria Day, after Premier Doug Ford said he was flooded with messages on stores being closed on Family Day. The government says it’s part of its economic plan to protect Ontario and will give employees an opportunity to pick up extra shifts. Emma Green, an Ottawa resident, says she used to work in retail customer service and thinks the law should stay the way it is. “I think that being at home is more important than being at work. I understand people want to go shopping. Maybe on their only day off but I think that it’s important to spend time with your family,” Green says. The Ford government says this plan will maintain strong protections for workers who wish to take the holiday off and it will offer workers a chance to earn premium pay, at time-and-a-half, in addition to getting their full public holiday pay. “People need a break. We don’t need to be out shopping every day. It’s the same with Christmas and New Year’s holidays. It’s time for family, especially if you have small kids and grandkids and everything. It’s just it’s time to be with the people you love,” says Cecil, an Ottawa resident. Family day was introduced by former Premier Dalton McGuinty in 2008 to give workers a break during the winter and to create an extra holiday in between New Years and Good Friday for families to spend time together. “It’s called family Day for a reason. It’s not let’s go shopping day. Workers in retail, they have families to and we have lots of opportunities to shop during the week. There’s a lot of time to go to stores. Those families deserve to have some time together. Opening stores up creates pressure for people to work,” says John Fraser, Liberal MPP for Ottawa South. In a news release, the Ontario government said: “Family Day and Victoria Day are non- religious, statutory holidays observed across Ontario, making them well suited for a harmonized retail framework.” Gloria Lapointe, an Ottawa resident, says it’s just another holiday and that stores should stay open. “I think they should be open. I mean, it’s nothing exciting at all. It’s not like Christmas then I would say ‘okay,’” Lapointe said. “Not everybody has a family so I mean, I want to go shopping and I can’t do that because it’s closed.” Retailers are currently required to close on New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, as part of the Retail Business Holiday Act’s forbidden shopping days. Although Family Day isn’t part of the forbidden act, it is a holiday in the Employment Standards Act. Labour groups are pushing back saying that it breaks up the families. “Holidays are there for us as families. It’s difficult and not enough today to find that work home life balance, holidays provide an opportunity to do that,” says Sean McKenny, President of the Ottawa & District Labour Council. “Let’s allow families the opportunity to spend time together to enjoy the company of each other.” The Ontario government has not passed this bill yet but is hoping to have stores opened for the upcoming Victoria Day holiday, May 18, 2026.
