The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is set to become a statutory holiday in B.C., the government announced Tuesday.

Sept. 30 is already a federal holiday, meaning that workers in federally regulated industries are entitled to a day off with pay. A bill introduced in the legislature Tuesday by Labour Minister Harry Bains will make it a provincial one as well.

Bains said the holiday will be observed in B.C. beginning in September 2023 and that all workers in B.C. will be covered by the province’s Employment Standards Act and will be entitled to a paid day off every Sept. 30. Prior to the introduction of the act, business, labour, Indigenous and social groups were consulted about a new statutory holiday, Bains said.

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