Say goodbye to longer days: When daylight saving time ends in Canada
As winter slowly approaches, daylight hours are already growing shorter, and soon, Canadians will find themselves facing even longer nights for the next four months.
Daylight saving time this year will come to an end on Nov. 2, so consider setting an alert so you don’t forget to adjust your clock back one hour when the time comes.
Canadians in most time zones can “fall back” on Nov. 1 before they head to bed, as the clocks roll back in the early morning hours of Nov. 2 while most people are sleeping.
The Yukon, most of Saskatchewan and some parts of British Columbia and Quebec stay on standard time.
These days, most digital and Wi-Fi-connected devices automatically adjust, but it’s always a good idea to double-check your clocks on Nov. 2. That way, you can avoid the awkwardness of showing up to work a whole hour early on Monday.
Daylight saving time has been part of life in most of Canada for over a century, but momentum is building to put an end to the practice.
“The acute effect is the stroke and heart attack. But the chronic effect of having to change clocks twice a year is that we see an increased risk in cancer, obesity, overall cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” Dr. Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, neurology professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told Global National.
Liberal MP Marie-France Lalonde is leading the charge to stop the biannual time switch with a private member’s bill, and is calling for Canada to adopt a single, permanent time by opting out of daylight saving time altogether.
Lalonde noted that the decision doesn’t rest solely with the federal government.
“Time regulation is a provincial and territorial jurisdiction, but what we can do, and we must do, is bring all jurisdictions to the table. A united front is the only way to ensure meaningful, nationwide change. I believe Canada can be a leader on this matter and set the precedent to allow others to follow our lead,” she added.
The changing of clocks has been a topic of debate in Canada for many years, with politicians in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario wanting to scrap the century-old practice.
Ontario previously tabled and unanimously passed a private member’s bill called the Time Amendment Act in 2020. It was waiting for New York and Quebec to get on board, as the areas share trade.
The B.C. legislature passed similar legislation in 2019, but the process has been delayed, as American states in the same time zone wait for California to pull the trigger.
B.C. Premier David Eby said in March he’d be open to moving ahead with ending the time change independently, as provinces grow more economically self-reliant.
“My usual response to this is that our biggest trading partner and group of people that we want to stay in sync with has not yet changed their clocks,” Eby said.
“But yeah, it’s open to the new world that we’re in that we stand on our own two feet as a province in relation to everything, including time zones,” he said with a chuckle, before adding “I’ll ponder that one.”
Alberta had a referendum on the idea in 2021, and just over half of those who voted wanted to keep daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time was first proposed in 1895 by New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He proposed the change because it would allow him more daylight hours to find and inspect insects.
Studies have shown negative impacts from the yearly switch. A 2019 report published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine analyzed seven studies that included more than 100,000 participants. It found that there was an increased risk of heart attack in the weeks following the spring and fall daylight saving time transitions.
A 2016 nationwide study in Finland — published in the Sleep Medicine journal — showed that stroke-related hospitalizations increased during the first two days after the switch.
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— With files from Global News
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