On most days almost everything in Ottawa is open. Ontario law closes most stores on only seven holidays a year, and the next one is Christmas Day, Friday December 25, 2026.
What's open in Ottawa today and tomorrow
On a regular day, stores, grocery stores, malls, restaurants and coffee shops in Ottawa are open. Ontario closes most stores on only seven holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. On every other day, including Boxing Day, Family Day, Victoria Day, the Civic Holiday and Remembrance Day, stores may open.
The next holiday is Remembrance Day, Wednesday November 11, 2026. It is not a store closing day in Ontario. OC Transpo runs a weekday schedule that day, and every Ottawa Public Library branch is closed. After that come Christmas Day (Friday December 25), when most stores must close, and Boxing Day (Saturday December 26), when they may open.
Opening is allowed, not required, on those days. Each store sets its own holiday hours, so check the store before you go.
Holidays when Ontario stores must close
Ontario's Retail Business Holidays Act names seven closing days: New Year's Day (January 1), Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Canada Day (moved to Monday when July 1 is a Sunday), Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day (December 25). As of April 2026, municipalities can no longer make or keep their own retail closing rules for Family Day or Victoria Day.
Some stores may open on the closing days anyway. The exceptions are small shops (under 2,400 sq ft, three or fewer staff) that sell only tobacco, antiques, handicrafts or books on the holiday, plus nurseries, flower shops, garden centres, gas stations, and stores in tourist areas set by municipal by-law. We have not confirmed which Ottawa areas have a tourist exemption, so check with the store or the City.
The City enforces the act. Fines start at $500 for a first offence and can reach $50,000 or the store's gross sales for the holiday, whichever is greater. Workers' public holidays are a separate list under the Employment Standards Act. That list adds Family Day, Victoria Day and Boxing Day, and leaves out Easter Sunday.
Grocery stores on Ottawa holidays
Grocery stores follow the same seven closing days. On Thanksgiving Monday and Labour Day, most grocery stores in Ottawa are closed. The exceptions are stores that qualify under a tourist area by-law or another exemption. On the Civic Holiday, Family Day, Victoria Day and Boxing Day, grocery stores are allowed to open.
For a normal Sunday or evening, our grocery store list helps. Of 144 ranked stores with posted hours, 132 list Sunday hours and 122 are open seven days a week. These are weekly hours from Google Maps, not holiday hours.
Top-rated restaurants and coffee shops open today
Many restaurants open on holidays. Our restaurant list ranks 1,171 places. Of the 1,129 with posted hours, 953 list Sunday hours, 872 list Monday hours and 695 are open seven days. In the top 20, 16 are open every day of the week. Everest Cuisine Ottawa (#1, 1846 Carling Ave) posts 11:30 to midnight daily. Agha Turkish Restaurant (#7, 1 Roydon Pl) posts Sunday hours of 9:00 to 23:00.
Coffee shops vary more. Of 130 ranked coffee shops with posted hours, 89 are open seven days. The #1 shop, Café Raphaël, is closed on weekends, while #2, Melaku Ethiopian Coffee Shop (503 Rideau St), posts Sunday hours of 10:00 to 20:00. For a weekend morning, 53 of 54 breakfast spots and 59 of 60 brunch spots with posted hours open on Sunday.
All of these are posted weekly hours from Google Maps, pulled October 29, 2026. Places often change hours on holidays. Ranks follow our published formula on public ratings and review counts.
Malls on holidays: Tanger Outlets, Rideau Centre and Bayshore
Tanger Outlets Ottawa (8555 Campeau Drive, Kanata) posts its holiday hours. In 2026 it was closed on New Year's Day, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It opened 10:00 to 18:00 on Family Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day, the Civic Holiday, Labour Day and Thanksgiving. For Remembrance Day, November 11, it posts 12:30 to 21:00. Its Christmas and Boxing Day 2026 hours are not posted yet. Last year it closed on Christmas Day and opened 7:00 to 21:00 on Boxing Day, but that is only last year's pattern.
We have not confirmed holiday hours for CF Rideau Centre (50 Rideau St) or Bayshore Shopping Centre (100 Bayshore Dr). Check each mall's own site before a holiday trip. Our malls list ranks 118 shopping centres, with Bayshore at #2, Tanger Outlets at #3 and CF Rideau Centre at #17.
OC Transpo, the library and city services on holidays
OC Transpo buses and O-Train Lines 1, 2 and 4 ran a Sunday schedule on Labour Day and Thanksgiving Monday in 2026. They run a weekday schedule on Remembrance Day, November 11. Service for Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's has not been announced yet.
The Ottawa Public Library closes all branches on statutory holidays. That includes Remembrance Day (November 11), Christmas Day and Boxing Day in 2026. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, all branches open 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Eleven locations, including Main, Nepean Centrepointe and Orléans, now open on Sundays all year, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
We have not checked the City's garbage and recycling holiday schedule, client service centres or recreation facilities. Look on ottawa.ca or the City's collection calendar before a holiday.
What's open in Gatineau on Quebec holidays
Quebec has its own law, and Gatineau stores close on different days. Stores may not admit the public on January 1, January 2, Easter Sunday, June 24, July 1, Labour Day or December 25. So stores in Gatineau close on January 2 even though Ottawa stores can open.
On December 24 and December 31, Quebec stores may open 8:00 to 17:00. On December 26, they open from 13:00, closing at 17:00 on a weekend and 21:00 on a weekday. Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the window is 13:00 to 17:00.
Restaurants, gas stations, and stores that mainly sell pharmaceutical products, books or newspapers may open outside those hours. A grocery store may open outside them only if four people or fewer run it at a time. We did not check Gatineau's municipal or STO transit holiday schedules.
Questions and answers
Are grocery stores open on Thanksgiving Monday in Ottawa?
Mostly no. Thanksgiving is one of Ontario's seven mandatory closing days for retail, so most grocery stores close. Only stores that qualify under an exemption, such as a municipal tourist area by-law, may open.
Are grocery stores open on Labour Day in Ottawa?
Mostly no. Labour Day is a mandatory closing day under Ontario's Retail Business Holidays Act. Gas stations and other exempt stores may open.
Are stores open in Ottawa on the Civic Holiday?
Yes, they may open. The Civic Holiday (the first Monday in August) is not on Ontario's closing list. In 2026, Tanger Outlets Ottawa opened 10:00 to 18:00 that day.
Is anything open in Ottawa on Remembrance Day?
Yes. Remembrance Day is not a store closing day in Ontario. On Wednesday November 11, 2026, OC Transpo runs a weekday schedule and Tanger Outlets posts 12:30 to 21:00. All Ottawa Public Library branches are closed.
What is open tomorrow in Ottawa?
Unless tomorrow is one of the seven Ontario closing days (New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas Day), stores may open as usual. Many restaurants open on holidays too. Check each place's own holiday hours.
Sources
- Retail business holidays (Government of Ontario). Checked .
- Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: public holidays (Government of Ontario). Checked .
- Public holidays (Canada Revenue Agency). Checked .
- Service changes (OC Transpo). Checked .
- Statutory holiday hours (Ottawa Public Library). Checked .
- Tanger Outlets Ottawa hours. Checked .
- Act respecting hours and days of admission to commercial establishments, CQLR c H-2.1 (LégisQuébec). Checked .
- fromOttawa place data: best restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, breakfast, brunch and malls lists (Google Maps ratings and posted hours, pulled 2026-10-29). Checked .