A study finds that Canada is among the least generous countries in the developed world when it comes to giving workers time off.
The Centre for Economic Policy and Research finds that European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year.
Two of the bottom three countries, Canada and Japan, mandate at least 10 paid days off. The least generous country, the United States, is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation.
Read more: Employees not taking vacation
Austria and Portugal offer the most amount of vacation time, with 22 days of paid vacation and 13 days of paid holidays, while France offers 30 days of paid vacation and one paid holiday. The Netherlands and Switzerland both offer 20 days of paid vacation and no paid holidays.
Taking into account paid holidays, Canada offers 19 days on average (depending on the province or territory). Among the provinces and territories, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories both offer 10 paid holidays whereas Nova Scotia offers five days. Alberta, Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the federal government all offer nine paid holidays.
This report reviewed the most recently available data from a range of national and international sources on statutory requirements for paid vacations and paid holidays in 21 rich countries.