# Canada vs South Africa: public holidays 2022

> In 2022, South Africa has more national public holidays (12 vs 9); more of South Africa's land on a working day (10 vs 7); a day of leave stretches furthest in South Africa (≈4.5×). Counts are national public holidays only — see "How we count" below.

## How they compare in 2022

| Metric | Canada | South Africa |
| ------ | ------- | ------- |
| Public holidays | 9 | 12 |
| Lands on a working day | 7 | 10 |
| Lost to a weekend | 2 | 2 |
| Substitutes (in-lieu days) | 0 | 0 |
| PTO leverage | 3.75× | 4.5× |
| Days off unlocked | 15 | 18 |

## How we count

National public holidays only — regional, bank, optional and observance days are excluded so the count is comparable across countries. A holiday is lost to a weekend when it falls on a Saturday or Sunday under a Mon–Fri workweek; substitutes are the in-lieu days some countries grant to give it back, counted here as real days off. Leverage runs our optimizer at a fixed 15-day PTO budget, Mon–Fri, and reads the best plan's days off per leave day — a yardstick so countries compare like-for-like, not a promise; your own leverage depends on your real budget. Forward years may include estimated lunar or observed dates.

## Related

- Canada 2022: https://roamgap.ike.work/public-holidays/ca/2022
- South Africa 2022: https://roamgap.ike.work/public-holidays/za/2022
- Full holiday league 2022: https://roamgap.ike.work/holiday-league/2022
- Plan your leave: https://roamgap.ike.work/year