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6 on 3 off vs 6 on 2 off
Identical working blocks. One day of difference in the break. That single day changes the average week by roughly five hours.
6 on 3 off
Day shiftNight shift24-hour tourDay off
6 on 2 off
Day shiftNight shift24-hour tourDay off
| 6 on 3 off | vs | 6 on 2 off |
|---|---|---|
| The cycle | ||
| 8 hours | Shift length | 8 hours |
| 9 or 18 days | Cycle length | 8 or 16 days |
| 37.3 hours | Average week | 42 hours |
| 6 | Shifts in a row | 6 |
| 3 days | Longest break | 2 days |
| Recovery | ||
| Yes | Three days off after six shifts | No |
| Yes | Enough recovery after a night block | NoMostly sleep |
| No | Fatigue carries into the next block | Yes |
| Money | ||
| No | More base hours on the roster | YesAbout 42 a week |
| No | Built above forty hours | Yes |
One day, five hours
Both patterns work six shifts in a row. One takes three days off afterwards, the other takes two. That is the entire difference, and it moves the average week from about thirty-seven hours to about forty-two.
It also changes the cycle length, from nine days to eight, so the two patterns drift through the week at different rates. Neither lands on the same weekdays twice.
Six in a row is the hard part either way
The sixth shift is where both of these are decided, and on a night block it is a long way from the first. The question is only what waits at the end of it.
Two days after six nights is thin. Officers on that pattern will tell you the first day is sleep and the second is getting ready to go back.
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Which one you want depends on what you need
If the money matters more, 6 on 2 off is built above forty hours and pays accordingly. If recovery matters more, the extra day on 6 on 3 off is the most valuable day in either cycle.
Full detail on each pattern: 6 on 3 off schedule · 6 on 2 off schedule
In Canada this is a bargaining question
Everything above holds either side of the border — the cycles are the cycles. What changes here is who decides, and what the two cost.
A Canadian service does not simply adopt a rotation. The schedule sits in the collective agreement as a compressed work week article, and the Toronto Police Association and OPP agreements both carry one. In the OPP's case the terms of a compressed work week agreement are themselves subject to the grievance procedure. So moving from 6 on 3 off to 6 on 2 off is not a decision a new inspector makes — it is bargained, and it stays until it is bargained again.
It also does not follow that a whole service runs one of them. The Toronto Police Association agreement carries a Shift Schedules schedule in the plural, so which one you work can depend on where you are posted. The answer is in the agreement.
What the province still decides
Both of these run the same shift length, so provincial overtime rules treat them alike — but the rules themselves differ. Ontario triggers overtime after 44 hours in a week and has no daily trigger. British Columbia triggers after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, with double time past 12. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador calculate it at 1.5 times the minimum wage rather than your own rate. Where the cycle does not fit a calendar week, hours can be averaged over two to four weeks by written agreement — and in a unionised service, your union makes that agreement.
Checked 7 August 2026. Provincial rules are quoted from the Employment Standards Act of the province named and, for Quebec, from the CNESST; federal provisions from the Treasury Board agreements. Employment standards are amended and collective agreements are renegotiated — check the current text before relying on a threshold or a figure.
The shift schedule you actually work
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