As we approach the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST), millions of Canadians will set their clocks back one hour this weekend, while millions of others will not.
The Maritime provinces as well as Quebec and most parts of Ontario and Nunavut, will adhere to the time old tradition of turning their clocks back, while B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories will remain on permanent DST.
Researchers have pushed for an end to time changes for years, citing concerns over sleep patterns, mental health, physical health and productivity. But now many are saying remaining on DST permanently may be the wrong choice.
“When you want to change to permanent time, it should be permanent standard time,” Kai-Florian Storch, a professor of psychiatry at McGill University, told Global News.
Transitioning to DST in the spring shifts daylight further into the evening making the day seem longer. But keeping that time into the winter months pushes sunrise later, especially in more northern latitudes.
“You don’t want to wake up too far away from sunrise, so you don’t want to wake up in the dark if possible. You want to wake up as close as possible to sunrise,” Storch said.
But on permanent DST, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg will see the sun rise between 9 and 9:30 a.m. in the winter. In Edmonton, sunrise on the winter solstice will occur just before 10 a.m. In the territories the sun will rise after 11 a.m.
When the sun rises in the morning it resets our biological clock, Rebecca Robillard, a psychology professor at the University of Ottawa and co-chair of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium, told Global News.
Get weekly health news
Having the sun rise later in the morning can cause mental and physical health issues, she said.
“Whether we talk about heart rate, metabolism, how we process sugar, insulin, all of our hormones are regulated by this biological clock,” she added.
These changes can result in an increase in heart attacks, complications related to immune disorders, digestive problems, kidney problems, pregnancy complications, anxiety, depression, substance use and suicide, she said.
“At the end of the day, I think this is not just a question of preference. This is really a question of public health that we should consider the well-being of all Canadians,” she said.
Why do we change the clocks?
Some Canadian cities began changing their clocks in the early 1910s with the rest of the country standardizing the practice in the late 1960s. The original argument for the change was to increase productivity and facilitate economic interactions with the U.S. and other countries.
Now as western Canada moves away from the practice, those provinces will be out of sync with their southern neighbours.
“It’s better to all make the same choice,” Patrick Baylis, a professor at the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia, told Global News.
Aside from business interactions, Baylis said individual productivity could take a hit on permanent DST.
“You see this first and foremost in student performance, which matters for its own sake, but is also kind of an indicator for what might be happening in the economy,” he said, emphasizing that a lack of sleep can lead to poor performance.
He said shift workers and those with less flexible schedules will feel the hit the most.
“If you’re required to be at work at 8 a.m., this matters a lot because you’re now going from a few weeks where the sunrise was going to be after the time when you’re supposed to be at work, to a few months,” he said.
“The rule of thumb is the less flexible your work hours are and the closer that start is to when sunrise would have been, the more effective you’re gonna be.”
Baylis said the short term effects might be hard to track, but he expects the long term data to be telling.
Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced earlier this week on social media that his government would put an end to the time changes and will work to determine whether permanent DST or standard time will be the norm.
The province of Ontario previously said that it would get rid of the practice if its neighbours in Manitoba, Quebec and New York did the same.
Storch said he doesn’t think the change will last long.
“This waking up too early will make people upset and will maybe, in my prediction, convince people to again do away with it and switch back to permanent standard time.”
– With files from Global News’ Heather Yourex-West, Aaron McArthur and Tim Sargeant
Global is on a crusade to stir up the sh *it in this topic. Maybe trying to get people talking about going back to clock changing?? There is a 100% probability of that not happening. So f *uck off Global, it’s done. It’s the only good thing the NDP did in 10 years.
It would be incredibly idiotic to have early morning sunlight vs evening sunlight.
1. You can’t beat the nature. The length of days and nights will remain the same.
2. Almost everyone agrees that “playing” with clock twice a year creates nuisance and confusion. Abandoning that practice will be a significant achievement.
3. To pick the “right” time for everyone is impossible. People ( and some countries) have their specific preferences, sometime very strange.
4. For more balanced approach you have to consider many factors such as:
All parts of the world are connected in many ways, it requires compatibility.
North and south hemispheres are not in the same path for time change,
We need to learn about history of time zones and their purpose as well as “reason” for DST and how they fit into modern times.
My suggestion is, kepp the same time throughout the year.
Between all options pick the practical one.
I believe that it is Standard Time.
With my work schedule (8:00-16:30) December and January I did not see the sun at all on standard time anyway. Now at least there will be at least a little sunlight for the drive home. I always found that time of year difficult.
So I’m getting up before sunrise now, and will be for the next few mk ths, but having sunlight for the part of my day when my time is my own is better for me.
Turn around that time change where the sun rises at 10:00 DST in midwinter, and it would rise at 3:30 midsummer, setting at 21:30. Im often not done with my day by then, so the DST extension into evening was always better in summer.
Between waking up before dawn in winter, and an earlier sunset in summer, I would choose to put ul with the former, not the latter. I’m far more likely to want natural light in the summer when I am way more inclined to do things outdoors. The things I do outdoors in winter are usually after work hours, so more light again is good for me.
Time zones should be based on geographic location.
I do not care if we move to standard or savings. I just want the time change to stop. I can get used to an extra hour of darkness; messing with my sleep is bad.
Axe the DST.
Plus and minus to either clock setting, but standard time best overall, hence we have time zones.
My biggest itch is why dani
slithers didnt respect the referendum results on this subject from few yrs ago?
Please bring Standard Time back throughout Canada.
It was the original Time for Decades. Whoever started this nonsense just because they wanted more daylight should have moved to the Tropics instead. Enough with forced changes put upon the Public’s
Interest.
Daylight. I couldn’t care less how dark it is in the morning in winter, I would prefer to have a bit of light when I get home from work.
I’d rather have some sun at the end of the day when I can enjoy it.
If it’s dark starting work, I can deal with it.
Standard time is better. At least in December the sun wont rise at 9am. And its safer for the kids going to school. This is everytime it changes back within a few years
Standard time is much better.
I don’t care about evenings, not going to spend time outside till 10pm, too many mosquitoes. I rather get up earlier to have a longer day.
Saskatchewan is permanent “central standard time” and is not changing.
I think the same experts who predicted chaos when the calendar changed from 1999 to 2000 are trying to rile the masses again. Nothing happened then, not much will change this time either. The Leafs may play an hour later in the west. Who cares, it’s not like we can watch them anymore anyway.
It’s daylight saving time not savings
And I like things as they are changing twice a year
No matter which you choose, there are no perfect answers. In southern Ontario, in mid summer with DST, sunrise is about 4:30, and sets at about 9:15. With standard time, sun rise would happen at 3:30am – up at about 3-4 hours before most people need to wake, and down at 8:15 – about 2 hours or less after people get home from work. How we sleep better with more light is beyond me…
Flip it over 6 months, Winter sun up at about 7:30 standard time, and down by about 5 – with daylight time that would be 8:30 and 6 – so in summer, under standard time we lose an hour in the evening where plenty of us get yard work, kids activities etc done, and we get more daylight while we are trying to sleep in the early morning. Conversely, we already more or less commute to and from work in the dusk/dawn or just plain dark – moving it an hour there doesn’t seem to make much difference for the average person. I vote DST year round. What use is 3am sun?
It only applies to privileged little snoys either way.
Ontario should keep Daylight Saving Time for the complete year.
Who cares
There is no way to please everyone.
What a biased statement. Millions of people will return from DST to regular time. They are not changing their clocks back from normal, they are returning their clocks to normal. Millions will continue to run on the wrong time.
Longer evenings? That means waiting up longer until one can start the evening campfire. or evening out. It means going to work in the dark Snow, dark and the body wanting to continue sleeping will mean more accidents. It means a fight to get the kids to bed at bedtime or up for school. It means not being able to show the kids the northern lights, or stars.
We need to get back to normal time.
I do not care what the experts say. Do not make the sun set an hour earlier in the summer! I care most about my after work activities. Permanent daylight savings is much better than permanent standard time.
Most people I talk to say longer evenings improve the opportunity for fun. Personally, I disagree. It is what it is.
The right answer is neither. Move them 30 minutes and leave them there. Make a new ‘standard’ time.
error in article.
SK is on permanent Standard Time