Hey Raha blog · School calendars

Canada school calendar 2026-27: March break, winter break and key dates by province

By Marie Adly · Last updated: 22 October 2026

March break 2027 is Monday 15 to Friday 19 March in Ontario's Toronto District School Board. It falls earlier in Quebec (1 to 5 March at the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal) and Nova Scotia (8 to 12 March), and later in Alberta and Manitoba, where spring break runs into or straight after the Easter weekend. Canada has no national school calendar: each province sets the rules and each school board publishes its own dates, so this page compares the big boards using their official calendars.

March break 2027 at a glance

Good Friday is 26 March 2027 and Easter Monday is 29 March 2027. Both are days off in every board listed here, which stretches several spring breaks into a longer stretch.

Key dates for major school boards

Ontario: Toronto District School Board

• School year: Tuesday 1 September 2026 to Wednesday 30 June 2027 (official school-year calendar). The key-dates sheet lists professional activity (PA) days on 2 and 3 September, and Labour Day is Monday 7 September, so check your school for the first day of classes (UNCONFIRMED).
• Thanksgiving: Monday 12 October 2026.
• Winter break: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027.
• Family Day: Monday 15 February 2027.
• March break: Monday 15 to Friday 19 March 2027.
• Elementary PA days: 2 and 3 September, 20 November 2026, 15 January, 12 February, 4 June and 30 June 2027. Secondary PA days differ (2 February replaces 15 January, and 29 June replaces 4 June).

British Columbia: Vancouver School Board

• First day: Tuesday 8 September 2026.
• Winter break: Monday 21 to Thursday 31 December 2026.
• Spring break: Monday 15 to Thursday 25 March 2027, followed by Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Alberta: Calgary Board of Education and Edmonton Public Schools

Quebec: Centre de services scolaire de Montréal

• First day for students: Thursday 27 August 2026.
• Holiday closure: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027.
• Semaine de relâche (March break): Monday 1 to Friday 5 March 2027.
• Easter: Good Friday 26 March and Easter Monday 29 March 2027.
• The calendar includes 20 pedagogical days: 8 set by the board (including 2 December 2026 and 27 April 2027 for all schools) and 12 set by each school, so your school's own calendar matters here more than most.

Manitoba: Winnipeg School Division

• School opens: Tuesday 8 September 2026 (non-instructional); first day of classes Wednesday 9 September.
• Winter break: Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027; school reopens Monday 4 January.
• Louis Riel Day: Monday 15 February 2027.
• Spring break: Monday 29 March to Friday 2 April 2027 (Good Friday 26 March is also off); school reopens Monday 5 April.
• Last day of school: Wednesday 30 June 2027.

Nova Scotia: Halifax Regional Centre for Education

• First day for students: Thursday 3 September 2026.
• Last day before the holiday break: Friday 18 December 2026; first day back Monday 4 January 2027.
• Heritage Day: Monday 15 February 2027.
• Spring break: Monday 8 to Friday 12 March 2027.
• Last day of school: Wednesday 30 June 2027.

Not covered yet: Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and the territories. Their school divisions publish their own calendars; check your division's website.

PD days, PA days and other no-school days

Every board has days when teachers work and students stay home. Ontario calls them PA days, most other provinces call them PD days, and Quebec has journées pédagogiques. Some are fixed by the board for every school; others are chosen by each school and announced in a newsletter or email. Add them to your calendar as soon as you see them: they are the days most likely to catch out a working parent. The Thanksgiving long weekend has already passed for 2026; our Thanksgiving school break guide explains how it works in Canada and the US.

When a date changes, Raha tells you

Board calendars are approved months ahead, but the details move: a PD day is added, a snow day closes schools, parent-teacher interviews are rescheduled. The news nearly always arrives by email. Hey Raha reads your school emails, read-only, and spots the change. She updates your family plan and tells you on WhatsApp, and your nanny gets her own version without fees or private notes. Try Hey Raha free for 14 days.

If school email already fills your inbox, see our guides to too many school emails and how to keep school emails from taking over Gmail.

Planning with a nanny

• Write down every no-school day now, including PA or PD days, not only the long breaks.
• Check March break against Easter. In Alberta and Manitoba the two run together in 2027; in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia they are separate weeks off.
• Plan the winter break early. Our guide to screen time over the Christmas holidays has ideas for the two weeks at home.
• Moving between provinces or countries? Our Australia school term dates guide shows how different a four-term year looks.

Our guide to briefing your nanny on the school week has a template you can adapt.

Canada school calendar FAQ

When is March break 2027 in Ontario?
The Toronto District School Board's March break is Monday 15 to Friday 19 March 2027. Other Ontario boards publish their own calendars, so check your board's page.

When is spring break 2027 in British Columbia?
The Vancouver School Board's spring break runs from Monday 15 to Thursday 25 March 2027, followed by Good Friday on 26 March and Easter Monday on 29 March.

When is the 2026 winter break for Canadian schools?
Most boards we checked close from Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027 and reopen on Monday 4 January. Calgary's winter break runs from Saturday 19 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027.

Does Canada have one national school calendar?
No. Education is run by the provinces and territories, and school boards set the exact dates, so two boards in the same province can differ.

What is a PA day or PD day?
A day when teachers work on training, assessment or planning and students do not attend. Ontario calls them professional activity (PA) days; most other provinces say professional development (PD) days.

Sources

• Toronto District School Board, 2026-27 key dates (PDF)
• Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, 2026-2027 school year calendar (page returned an error on 22 Oct 2026)
• Vancouver School Board, 2026-2027 school calendar (PDF)
• Calgary Board of Education, 2026-2027 instructional calendar (PDF)
• Edmonton Public Schools, 2026-27 school year calendar (PDF)
• Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, calendrier scolaire 2026-2027 (PDF, French)
• Winnipeg School Division, 2026/27 school calendar (PDF, revised 15 April 2026)
• Halifax Regional Centre for Education, significant dates 2026-27

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