These 6 Canadian Places Have Already Cancelled Daylight Saving Time
Whenever the clocks spring forward or fall back it can be a little disorienting. Especially when people are very protective of their sleep, time changes don't sit well with them. Daylight saving time in Canada is not everyone's cup of tea and some places don't even observe it. Some places have done away with time changes completely.
In Canada, timekeeping is left up to provincial and territorial governments, not the federal government. So individual provinces and territories get to decide on things like changing to clocks for daylight savings time or staying on standard time.
B.C. has set the ball rolling on legislation that would end time changes in the province so in March and November clocks wouldn't spring forward or fall back.
A survey of B.C. residents released in September 2019 revealed that a staggering 93 percent of people would prefer to move to permanent daylight savings time.
"The people of British Columbia have spoken and their collective voice has come through loudly and clearly. This engagement has done exactly as we hoped it would in providing clarity about a preferred direction," said B.C. Premier John Horgan in a news release about the survey.
Before the province moved forward with introducing legislation to end time changes, a few regions in B.C. didn't observe daylight savings time at all.
But B.C. isn't the only place in Canada that has shown time changes the door. Daylight savings time isn't observed in places in three other provinces and one territory.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan said goodbye to daylight saving time before B.C. made it cool to do. Most of the province doesn't observe the time change in March and November either officially or unofficially.
According to The Weather Channel, the former premier suggested a referendum in 2011 to see if people in Saskatchewan would support daylight saving time in the province. But two polls done by the government and local media showed that the majority of people wanted to continue without daylight saving time.
Ontario
In most of Ontario, daylight saving time is observed. But Pickle Lake, Atikokan, and New Osnaburgh in northern Ontario are on eastern standard time the entire year long.
Back in April 2019, a Liberal MPP introduced a private member's bill that wanted the province to move clocks forward in March 2020 and then stay with that time. That would mean Ontario would permanently be on daylight saving time. But there has been no word if that bill will actually become law.
Nunavut
Nunavut is the territorial exception when it comes to observing daylight saving time. Southampton Island, just off the eastern coast of the territory, doesn't have daylight saving time and is permanently on standard time.
Quebec
In Quebec, the eastern parts of the North Shore region, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, don't observe daylight saving time either.
Other places in Canada have tried to get rid of time changes but were unsuccessful.
A Manitoba MLA tried to scrap time changes in the province earlier in 2019 but the bill was not approved. So people in the province will continue to change their clocks in March and November.
In 2017, a bill to end daylight saving time in Alberta was voted down and the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and WestJet all disagreed with the bill.
While time changes don't sit well with some Canadians, even prominent politicians like B.C.'s premier, there could also be health concerns associated. Sleep experts are warning that moving to permanent daylight saving time is not great for our health.
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