Time Card Calculator Canada: Hours, Breaks and Overtime

Overtime and break rules by province at a glance

In 2026 overtime in Canada starts after 40, 44 or 48 hours a week depending on the province, and seven provinces and territories, plus federally regulated workplaces, also count hours over 8 in a day. Almost everywhere you must get a 30-minute meal break after 5 consecutive hours, and it can be unpaid if you are free to leave your work.

To total a time card, subtract each clock-in from its clock-out, take away unpaid breaks, add the days and convert minutes to decimal by dividing by 60. A Monday to Friday week of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with 30-minute lunches is 40.00 hours, which is overtime-free in every province.

How to calculate hours worked

Hours worked for a shift equal the clock-out time minus the clock-in time, minus any unpaid break. The formula is: hours worked = (clock out − clock in) − unpaid break. Work in minutes, then divide by 60 to get decimal hours for payroll.

1. Convert both times to a 24-hour clock. 4:30 p.m. becomes 16:30. Midnight is 00:00.
2. Subtract clock-in from clock-out. 16:30 − 8:00 = 8 hours 30 minutes, or 510 minutes.
3. Take away unpaid breaks. 510 − 30 = 480 minutes. Paid coffee breaks stay in.
4. Divide by 60. 480 ÷ 60 = 8.00 hours. Repeat for each day and add them up.

Overnight shifts

When a shift crosses midnight, add 24 hours to the clock-out time before subtracting. A shift from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. is (6:00 + 24:00) − 22:00 = 8 hours, or 7.50 hours after a 30-minute unpaid break. The calculator does this automatically whenever clock-out is earlier than clock-in, and counts the hours on the day the shift started.

Split shifts

For a split shift, calculate each part separately and add them. 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. plus 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. is 4 + 4 = 8.00 hours; the gap between the two parts is not work time. Tick Split shifts above the timesheet to add a second clock-in and clock-out for each day.

How to use the time card calculator

The time card calculator opens with a standard week already filled in, Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a 30-minute lunch, so you can see a result straight away. Replace the times with your own and every total updates.

1. Choose one week or two. Two weeks suits a biweekly pay period. Overtime is still worked out week by week.
2. Enter clock-in and clock-out times. Use the times on your punch record or schedule. Your device shows a.m. and p.m. or a 24-hour clock, depending on its settings.
3. Add unpaid break minutes. Enter only breaks you are not paid for, usually your meal break. Leave paid rest breaks out.
4. Pick your province, rate and rounding. The province sets the overtime rule. The hourly rate is optional and adds gross pay. Use rounding only if your employer rounds punches.

Reading your results

Total hours appear in decimal (40.25) and in hours and minutes (40:15), because payroll uses decimals and people read clocks. Overtime hours show how many hours pass your province's daily or weekly threshold. With an hourly rate entered, the receipt splits regular, overtime and, in British Columbia, double-time pay, and totals gross pay before tax, CPP and EI.

Worked examples

Every example uses the same calculation as the calculator. Pay examples assume the hourly rate shown and the statutory 1.5x overtime rate.

Convert hours and minutes to decimal hours

To convert minutes to decimal hours, divide the minutes by 60: 45 minutes is 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75, so 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours. Never type 7:45 as 7.45, which underpays 18 minutes. The table converts every 5 minutes; for other minutes, divide by 60 and round to two decimals.

Weekly timesheet template and totals

A weekly timesheet lists each day's clock-in, clock-out and unpaid break, the daily total and a weekly total. The example below is a typical retail week with one long Saturday; the same week is overtime-free in Ontario but earns daily overtime in Alberta and British Columbia.

The week totals 42.50 hours. Ontario pays no overtime because the week is under 44 hours. Alberta and British Columbia pay 2.50 overtime hours for the time over 8 on Thursday and Saturday. Quebec, with a 40-hour week, pays 2.50 overtime hours.

Missing punches and corrections

If you forget to clock in or out, record the correct time as soon as you can and tell your supervisor in writing. Employers in every province must keep records of hours worked each day; in Ontario that duty is in section 15 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and records must be kept for three years.

Keep your own record

Download the CSV or PDF from the calculator each pay period. If your pay stub shows fewer hours than your card, the difference and the dates are what an employment standards officer will ask for.

Breaks, overtime and provincial rules in Canada

Time tracking and overtime law are separate questions: the time card tells you how many hours you worked, and your province's employment standards law decides which of those hours earn overtime. Canada has 14 sets of rules, one per province and territory plus the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated work.

Meal breaks: paid or unpaid?

Most jurisdictions require at least 30 minutes after 5 consecutive hours; Newfoundland and Labrador requires one hour, and Yukon allows 6 hours before the break on days longer than 10 hours. The break can be unpaid if you are free to leave your post. If you must stay at your workstation or remain available, the break generally counts as paid work time in British Columbia, Yukon, Quebec and Prince Edward Island, and you should not subtract it.

Weekly-only overtime: Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces

Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island pay overtime after 44 hours a week, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador after 40, and Nova Scotia after 48. None of them has a daily trigger, so a 12-hour day on its own earns no overtime. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador only require overtime at 1.5 times the minimum wage; most employers pay 1.5 times the regular rate.

Daily or weekly: Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the territories and federal work

In these jurisdictions you work out overtime both ways, hours over 8 each day added up, and hours over the weekly limit, then take the larger number. Alberta's weekly limit is 44 hours; Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Canada Labour Code use 40. The two are never added together.

British Columbia double time

British Columbia pays 1.5 times for hours 8 to 12 in a day and double time for every hour over 12, under section 40 of the Employment Standards Act. Weekly overtime applies to regular hours over 40, and hours already paid as daily overtime do not count towards that 40.

Averaging agreements and exempt jobs

Many provinces let employers and employees average hours over two to four weeks under a written agreement or permit, and many occupations, such as managers, some farm workers, truck drivers and certain professionals, have different thresholds or none. If either applies to you, use your agreement's rule; the calculator applies the general rule only. For the full rules and examples, see the overtime pay calculator for Canada.

What changed in 2026

The biggest 2026 change for time cards is in Prince Edward Island, where a new Employment Standards Act took effect on June 30, 2026 and cut the standard work week from 48 to 44 hours. Hours 45 to 48, once paid at straight time, now earn 1.5 times the regular rate.

For a P.E.I. worker on $25 an hour putting in 46.00 hours, that is $25.00 more a week. Weeks that ended before June 30, 2026 still use the 48-hour threshold.

Rounding time card punches

Rounding replaces each clock-in and clock-out with the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes. The common 7-minute rule rounds to the nearest quarter hour: 8:07 becomes 8:00 and 8:08 becomes 8:15. Rounding is lawful only if it is neutral over time; a policy that always rounds in the employer's favour shortchanges hours you worked.

Example: a shift from 8:07 a.m. to 4:38 p.m. with a 30-minute break is 8.02 hours exactly, but 8.25 hours after quarter-hour rounding. A shift from 8:08 a.m. to 4:37 p.m. is 7.98 hours exactly and 7.75 hours rounded. Over the two days, rounding gives 16.00 hours against 16.00 exact, which is why neutral rounding usually evens out. Choose a rounding option in the calculator to see your own effect.

Common time-card mistakes

Most time card errors come from a.m. and p.m. mix-ups and from writing minutes as decimals. Each mistake below shows the size of the error on a normal shift.

1. Entering 7:45 as 7.45. 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours; 7.45 underpays 18 minutes a shift, 1.5 hours over a five-day week.
2. Mixing up a.m. and p.m. 8:00 to 4:30 read as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. gives a 20.5-hour overnight shift instead of 8.5.
3. Subtracting paid breaks. Two paid 15-minute breaks taken out by mistake remove 2.5 hours from a five-day week.
4. Averaging two weeks. 50 hours and 30 hours average 40, but in Ontario the first week still earns 6 overtime hours unless there is a written averaging agreement.
5. Adding daily and weekly overtime. In Alberta and other daily-or-weekly provinces you take the larger figure, never both.
6. Counting a split shift as one shift. 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. is 14 hours, but with a six-hour unpaid gap the work time is 8 hours.

What this calculator does and does not do

The calculator gives an exact total of the times you enter and applies each province's general overtime threshold, so for a standard hourly job its hours and overtime match what your employer should record. It is a time tracking tool, not a payroll or legal ruling.

Included

Exact minute arithmetic; overnight and split shifts; unpaid breaks; rounding to 5, 6 or 15 minutes; weekly and biweekly periods with overtime per week; general overtime thresholds for all 10 provinces, 3 territories and the Canada Labour Code; British Columbia double time; Prince Edward Island's 44-hour week from June 30, 2026; gross pay at your chosen rate.

Not included

Averaging agreements, industry exemptions and modified work schedules; statutory holiday pay and premium pay; minimum wage overtime floors in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador; vacation pay; tax, CPP and EI deductions. For take-home pay, use the Canada income tax calculator.