Daylight saving time in Canada

Daylight saving time (DST) is currently observed in nine of ten provinces and two of three territories in Canada, but with exceptions in several provinces and Nunavut.[1] Most of the province of Saskatchewan, despite geographically being in the Mountain Time Zone, observes year-round Central Standard Time (CST). In 2020, the territory of Yukon abandoned seasonal time change to permanently observe year-round Mountain Standard Time (MST).[2] Under the Canadian Constitution, laws related to timekeeping are a provincial or territorial matter.[3]

In regions where daylight saving time is used, it commences on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Daylight saving time lasts for a total of 34 weeks (238 days) every year, about 65% of the entire year.

History

Port Arthur, Ontario, was the first municipality in the world to enact DST, on July 1, 1908.[4]

Five Canadian cities, by local ordinance, used daylight saving time before 1918: Brandon, Manitoba and Winnipeg, Manitoba (already in 1916)[5] as well as Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hamilton, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec. St. John's, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador), which did not become part of Canada until 1949, also used DST before 1918.[5]

In practice, since the late 1960s DST across Canada has been closely or completely synchronized with its observance in the United States to facilitate consistent economic and social interaction. When the United States extended DST in 1987 to the first Sunday in April, all DST-observing Canadian jurisdictions followed suit to mimic the change.

The latest United States change (Energy Policy Act of 2005), adding parts of March and November starting in 2007, was adopted by the various provinces and territories on the following dates:

  • Ontario[6] and Manitoba[7] – October 20, 2005
  • Quebec – December 5, 2005[8]
  • Prince Edward Island – December 6, 2005[9]
  • New Brunswick – December 23, 2005[10]
  • Alberta – February 2, 2006[11]
  • Northwest Territories – March 4, 2006[12]
  • British Columbia – March 31, 2006[13]
  • Nova Scotia – April 25, 2006[14]
  • Yukon – July 14, 2006.[15] Year-round MST as of March 8, 2020.[2]
  • Newfoundland and Labrador – November 20, 2006, but officially announced on January 18, 2007[16]
  • Nunavut – February 19, 2007[17]
  • Saskatchewan – No official action was taken, as almost all of the province does not observe Daylight Saving Time and remains on CST year-round. However, the few places in the province that do observe daylight saving (Lloydminster and the surrounding area, which straddles the Alberta border and observes Alberta's Mountain Time – and Creighton, which observes daylight saving on an unofficial basis due to its proximity to the border with Manitoba) follow the aforementioned March–November schedule just like the rest of the country.

By province or territory

British Columbia

Most of British Columbia (BC) is on Pacific Time and observes DST. However, there are two main exceptions:

Nunavut
Main article: Time in Nunavut

The territory of Nunavut has three time zones: Mountain Time in the west, Central Time in the centre and Eastern Time in the east. Daylight saving time is observed throughout Nunavut with the exception of Southampton Island, including Coral Harbour, and Eureka—a permanent research station on Ellesmere Island—both of which remain on Eastern Standard Time throughout the year.[19]

Ontario

Most of Ontario uses DST. Pickle Lake, Atikokan and New Osnaburgh, three communities located within the Central Time Zone in northwestern Ontario, observe Eastern Standard Time all year long.

In November 2020, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed Bill 214, the Time Amendment Act, 2020, which would establish year-round observation of daylight saving time; however, the act does not come into force immediately; instead, it takes effect on a day to be named by proclamation of the Ontario lieutenant governor under the advisory of the province's attorney general.[20] This is intended to avoid moving to a different time zone that that used in Quebec or New York.[21]

Quebec

Most of Quebec is on Eastern Time and observes DST. However there are three exceptions, all of which are legally accommodated by the province's Time Act of 2006:

Saskatchewan
Main article: Time in Saskatchewan

Although all of Saskatchewan is geographically within the Mountain Time Zone, the province officially observes the Central Time Zone. As a result, while most of Saskatchewan does not change clocks spring and fall, it technically observes DST year-round. This means that clocks in most of the province match clocks in Winnipeg during the winter and Calgary and Edmonton during the summer. The Saskatchewan Time Act of 1966 designated CST year-round for eastern Saskatchewan and gave local options for western parts of the province. Since 1972, all western regions of the province (except around Lloydminster) have opted for CST year-round.

The city of Lloydminster, which is bisected by the Saskatchewan–Alberta boundary, and its immediately surrounding region observe Mountain Time year-round, with officially sanctioned seasonal daylight saving time (which in the summer, puts it in synchronization with the rest of Saskatchewan). This is to keep clocks on the Saskatchewan side in synchronization with those on the Alberta side; Alberta mandates the use of daylight saving time province-wide. Along the Manitoba border, the small, remote Saskatchewan towns of Denare Beach and Creighton unofficially observe Central Daylight Time during the summer, thereby keeping the same time as larger neighbouring Manitoba communities.

See also

References
  1. National Research Council (August 5, 2020). "Time zones and daylight saving time". Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  2. Government of Yukon (March 4, 2020). "Yukon to end seasonal time change". Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  3. Wiseman, Nelson (1994). "In Search of Manitoba's Constitutional Position, 1950–1990". Journal of Canadian Studies. 29 (3): 85–107. doi:10.3138/jcs.29.3.85. ISSN 0021-9495.
  4. "Time to change your clocks – but why?". Northern Ontario Travel. March 8, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  5. Doane, Doris Chase (March 5, 1972). "Time Changes in Canada and Mexico". American Federation of Astrologers – via Google Books.
  6. "Time Act". Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  7. Province Introduces Legislation that Would Extend Daylight Saving Time in Manitoba Archived July 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (The Official Time Amendment Act Archived May 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine,The Official Time Act Archived November 9, 2005, at the Wayback Machine)
  8. "Bill n°2 : Legal Time Act". Archived from the original on November 20, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  9. "An Act to Amend the Time Uniformity Act" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2006.
  10. "Changes to daylight saving time in New Brunswick in 2007 (05/12/23)". Archived from the original on September 1, 2006. Retrieved May 18, 2006.
  11. Alberta sees the light with a timely announcement
  12. Daylight Saving Time Regulations Archived April 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  13. "New Daylight Saving Time Takes Effect in 2007". Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2006.
  14. "Nova Scotia to Change Daylight Saving Time". Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  15. Yukon To Adopt Extended Daylight Saving Time Starting March 2007 Archived October 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  16. "An Act Respecting Standard Time and Daylight Time in the Province". Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  17. "Nunavut News/North "Nunavut to follow new seasonal time standard"". Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  18. Reaburn, Adam (February 21, 2015). "Fort Nelson to change time one last time this March". Energetic City. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  19. "Visitor Guide to Eureka" (PDF). Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  20. "Bill 214, Time Amendment Act, 2020". Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  21. "Hansard Transcript, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, October 7, 2020". Retrieved December 1, 2020.
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