British Columbia is adopting year-round daylight saving time, meaning that clocks will spring forward by one hour for the last time on Sunday.
After that, there will be no more seasonal time changes in the province, Premier David Eby said Monday.
The decision means B.C. will be on the same clock as the Yukon throughout the year and will match Alberta from November to March. The province will also remain one hour ahead of Washington state, Oregon and California during the winter months.
“When we change our clocks twice a year, it creates all kinds of problems,” Eby said in announcing the new policy.
“Kids get up at the same time, even though the clocks changed. Dogs get up at the same time, even though the clocks changed. Parents lose sleep. Kids lose sleep. And even people without kids or parents, they’re losing an hour of sleep… So what we see is more car accidents and people not feeling well and impacts that have a huge, unnecessary impact on the lives of British Columbians.”
Attorney General Niki Sharma said that she is looking forward to more stable and predictable schedules.
“On Nov. 1, when clocks would normally be turned back, no change will be made and we will have fully transitioned into our brand new time zone called Pacific Time,” she said.
“Pacific Time will be set seven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time.”
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As of November 2026, B.C. will be two hours behind Eastern Standard Time. Starting in March 2027, B.C. will be three hours behind Eastern Standard Time.
Under former premier John Horgan, B.C.’s NDP government passed legislation enabling the province to end the biannual time change, but the measure was never enacted.
That’s because B.C. sought to align the shift with jurisdictions along the west coast, such as Washington and California, to avoid business disruptions.
In 2020, people in Yukon moved their clocks ahead for the last time, switching to permanent daylight saving time following a wildly popular public consultation.
“We had committed to wait for our American partners,” Eby said.
“But the reality is that they’re stuck. And we want to help give them the push that they need. Someone’s got to go first. To be fair, the Yukon went first and we thank them for that. But we’re going to give them a push. And we’re also going to make decisions right now where British Columbia decides what’s best for us.”
According to the Pew Research Center, only about a third of the world’s countries follow daylight saving time. The vast majority of them are in Europe.
In Canada, Saskatchewan is the lone daylight saving time holdout, with only a few border communities making the seasonal change.
In a statement, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade said it is concerned about the province’s decision without coordination from neighbouring jurisdictions.
“The unilateral change in time is an unwelcome distraction that will make it more difficult to attract and retain businesses in British Columbia,” Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO, said.
“The choice to change the time unliterally will create an additional headache for businesses operating on both sides of the border.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses also called the move an attempt to distract.
“Today’s announcement will be a surprise to small businesses and comes after a rushed and limited consultation process,” Ryan Mitton, CFIB Director of Legislative Affairs for B.C., said in a statement.
“While some may be relieved not to change the clocks each year, the lack of coordination with other jurisdictions risks causing confusion and disruption. This appears motivated by an attempt to distract from the province’s $13-billion deficit, not genuine concern for the impacts of the time change.
“Changing the clocks will not change the channel on the recent B.C. budget, which is a disaster for small businesses. The provincial government may be ending PST (Pacific Standard Time), but now they must end the PST (Provincial Sales Tax) on professional services.”
-with files from The Canadian Press
I have never been so happy, i didnt think this would ever happen! Its about time
An article discussing time zones in BC that does not alcknowledge that Southeastern BC runs on Mountain Time perpetuates a myth that BC has only the Pacific Time Zone.
Update! Now I remember this vote!! The reason there was a 93% “yes” vote is because there was no option to vote for staying on Standard Time. This is insane… I feel insane. lol.
I’ll take permanent DST any time. At least it won’t be dark until 5:30 PM from now on. Who cares if it is standard or daylight. As long as it is consistent. And for the high noon sun = 12:00 HRS argument, that only happens at one point in a time zone.
It’s about time!
Thank god this is over. Vancouver Board of Trade CEO moaning about it will be more difficult to attract and retain businesses in BC. Really? Maybe the Cowichan Land Decision and the Feds handing over Vancouver and area to another tribe might be a little more of a determining factor in that regard. Or a provonce that essentially has no fee simple ownership any more.
My bad, there was a vote and 93% voted yes. Unreal. Next winter is going to be way colder than this year’s was in BC and now it’s going to be waaaay darker. Very curious to see how that combo pans out.
WHYYYYYY!?!?! Why would we not go with STANDARD TIME!?!?!? Our winter mornings are dark enough!!! I live in Victoria and cannot imagine how cities further north must feel about this switch! How was there not an actual vote on this decision!? All the science supports stopping the switch, but it also supports STANDARD TIME!!!!!! I would rather swip swap for the rest of my life that be on Permanent Daylight Savings Time.
Even though other places in North America. like Saskatchewan and Arizona, who also don’t wish to change the clocks twice a year stay on standard time year round, YOU want to stay on Daylight time all year round, brilliant! Was this based upon the surveys Alberta and BC did that asked the question with ONLY options to stay on Daylight time year round and not even give the voters the option of choosing what Saskatchewan and Arizona did? That’s really a true democracy, isn’t it…just don’t ask the question correctly. I would rather not change the clock either, but I would pick staying on standard time year round.
It won’t get light until 9ish AM.
We should have had a conversation with the American States and forced it. imagine driving from washington to BC and all of a sudden the time changes.. lol. This is just to distract from the budget and the thousands of people/businesses leaving BC.
Experts agree that permanent standard time is the way to go, not daylight saving time. Eby will regret it when his kids have to walk to school in the dark all winter.
Classic Eby move.
Fix the clocks while the province implodes.
Congratulations to the rest of BC for joining other communities who don’t switch their clocks. The question is, will eastern BC join the new Pacific time zone or be an hour ahead permanently sandwiched between BC and the changing Alberta zone?
Should have been fixed on standard time. Itwill be too dark in the mornings in winter.
It is about time we got rid of the change twice a year. It will be nice to have daylight longer into the evening in winter.
WOW they did it right. DST was what 70+% of bcers wanted. Longer daylight hours!!!
No. Year long standard time is best. It’s best for our health. It’s best for our psyche. Every other creature on earth, except humans, operates on standard time. Midnight should be true midnight and mid-day should be mid-day with a high noon sun dead center in the sky at 12pm. Why must be artificially adjust to clocks that mess with our biology.
never understood the problem with changing clock, never bothered me, something to do. oh well, hope it works out. time will tell
Way to deflect from the budget fiasco👍👍👍
Yes ! It’s about time !
They just gave all of Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond land rights to the Musqueam Band.