British Columbia will keep its clocks from falling back on Nov. 1, maintaining daylight saving time throughout the year.
The Story
British Columbia will no longer fall back on Nov. 1, keeping daylight saving time year-round after legislation was passed to end the annual clock changes.
The change means the clocks will remain the same throughout the entire year in B.C., while many other parts of Canada make the seasonal adjustment.
Premier David Eby said in a statement, “Every parent knows that changing clocks twice a year causes a significant amount of chaos on already busy lives. British Columbians have been clear that seasonal time changes do not work for them. This decision isn’t just about clocks. It’s about making life easier for families, reducing disruptions for businesses and supporting a stable, thriving economy.”
The shift follows earlier discussion about ending time changes and keeping the Pacific time zone on daylight saving time year-round. A 2022 policy proposal from the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce cited studies linking clock changes to outcomes including sleep loss, heart attacks and traffic accidents.
Public engagement also showed strong support for making the switch permanent. In 2019, a survey found the majority of British Columbians wanted to get rid of daylight saving time altogether, and when the province proposed making it permanent, “93% of British Columbian respondents indicated support for the change in a record-breaking public engagement.”
Daylight saving time began in 1908, when Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) residents moved their clocks forward by an hour, and it later became national in the late 1960s. The original rationale has been to conserve energy and make use of available daylight, though that reasoning has been challenged in part because some people argue time changes cause more problems than benefits.
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