Canada will have a national holiday on the date of the Queen's funeral, September 19, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.."We have ... chosen to move forward with a federal holiday on Monday." Trudeau said in New Brunswick at the Liberal caucus retreat.."We will be working with the provinces and the territories to try and see that we're aligned on this. There are still a few details to be worked out, but declaring an opportunity for Canadians to mourn on Monday is going to be important," he said..Later in the day, sources confirmed that Ontario will not have a provincial holiday on Monday..Without the provinces accepting the plan, only federally regulated workers would get the day off. Around 85 to 90% of workers are regulated by federal governments..BC Premier John Horgan said: “K-12 public schools and public post-secondary institutions, and most Crown corporations will be closed. We encourage private-sector employers to find a way to recognize or reflect on the day in a way that is appropriate for their employees.”.In Newfoundland and Labrador provincial government offices and schools across the province will close..However, other businesses and organizations will not be required to close or treat the day as a paid holiday. They can remain open if they wish.."Businesses and other organizations in the province are encouraged to commemorate Her Majesty in a manner that works best for them," said a release, issued by the executive council in NL..The Commonwealth countries of New Zealand and Australia declared they will also hold national holidays to mark the occasion. New Zealand will have its "Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day" holiday on September 26, while Australia said it will hold its one-off national holiday on September 22..In the United Kingdom, a bank holiday has been announced for the funeral date, which will shutter government services and schools..Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, told CBC News a national holiday for the Queen's passing would result in "enormous" costs for businesses.."Businesses are already struggling to pay their employees and to find enough employees to keep their businesses going. For those that can close, they would obviously lose a day's productivity," he said.."For those that need to be open, like a restaurant or a movie theatre or something like that, all this means is employees would receive extra pay while they're working, pay that employers would be struggling to find.".Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter concurred with Kelly, estimating that the cost to the economy of an extra statutory holiday comes in at between .1 and .2% of annual GDP, or somewhere between $2 billion and $4 billion. ."Presumably not all activity would be shut down. Some could be made up at a later date and some activity occurs on weekends," he said.
