B.C’s decision to adopt permanent daylight savings
The Government of British Columbia turned their clocks forward an hour for the last time on March 8, 2026. While B.C. residents will be in line with the rest of Canada for the summer, the biggest change will occur on Nov. 1, 2026. This is when clocks around Canada will be turned back, and B.C. ‘s will stay the same. This will give residents one extra hour of evening light during the winter months, signifying the completion of B.C.’s transition to its new time zone, Pacific Time. According to the government of B.C., Pacific Time, “will be set seven hours behind coordinated universal time (UTC-7), matching the current offset used during daylight saving time (DST).”
The B.C. Government has decided to end seasonal time change in hopes to help the overall health and wellness of its residents, stating the benefits to ending seasonal time change include: Fewer disruptions to sleep patterns and daily routines, more usable light in winter, reduced administrative burden for business and service providers, and more consistent planning across transportation and technology services.
In the summer of 2019, the Province conducted a public engagement on time observance, with 223,000 people participating, showing 93 per cent supported adopting year-round DST. Reactions after the bill has been passed have been mixed. Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, expressed concern about B.C.’s decision to move forward independently without the United States’ west coast states such as California, Oregon, and Washington, according to CBC.
Mt.A student Rebecca Wolf Gage, who is from Victoria B.C,. says “it’s beneficial to not have people have to go out of their way and change twice every year to a different time zone,” while adding, “there’s something nice about being able to kind of stay on track with kind of how our weather and and sun patterns.” Brooke Hennigar, another Mt.A student from B.C., said, “it’s an awkward shift because now if I want to call my parents, it might not be the same [time].”
This is not the first time B.C. has considered permanent daylight savings, as the legal framework which enabled the province to adopt the new timezone became law in 2019. The provincial government, under former premier John Horgan, chose not to bring it into force to ensure it remained in the same time zone as neighbouring U.S. states, hoping to make the transition together. Current Premier David Eby said, “we are done waiting” in an interview with CBC. The provincial government says that these changes reflect the needs of British Columbians. Wolf Gage says, “Ebby’s message of we’re going to transition whether you like it or not is a very stark one, a very good stance for Canadian sovereignty,” in response to Eby’s mentality of putting B.C ahead of others.