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POLL: Should Canada get rid of Daylight Saving Time?

Click to play video: 'Debate renewed on whether daylight saving time is beneficial'
Debate renewed on whether daylight saving time is beneficial
WATCH: With daylight saving time set to take effect again, meaning people will have to set their clocks ahead one hour this weekend, it begs the question: is this actually useful? Or is it useless? Linda Aylesworth has the latest research – Mar 11, 2016

Get ready to lose an hour of sleep overnight. Daylight Saving Time comes into effect at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

The time change doesn’t apply to Saskatchewan and select other communities, which remain on central standard time year-round.

For the rest of the country, daylight saving time ends November 6th.

Daylight Saving Time is in use in over 70 countries worldwide and affects over a billion people every year.

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But it’s a controversial topic, with many people calling to put a stop to the semi-annual time change.

And lately, research seems to be in favour of getting rid of it.

DST began in Thunder Bay in 1908, and then was implemented in Europe, as a way to conserve power during the first world war.

But one study says the energy savings earned from lighting were smaller than the increase of energy due to air conditioning use on summer evenings and heating on fall mornings.

READ MORE: UBC economist looks into whether Daylight Saving Time is really necessary

Another study says DST is bad for your health.

New research out of Finland suggests losing an hour of sleep during DST also increases your risk of stroke in the following days.

“The two days after the clocks roll forward there’s a spike in the number of heart attacks, strokes, and vascular events that occur.” Dr. Mustafa Ahmed, a cardiologist at the Princeton Baptist Medical Centre, told Global News.

READ MORE: How Daylight Saving Time affects your internal clock

Due to the lost hour of sleep, drivers are advised to take extra care when getting behind the wheel Monday.

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A 1996 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed an increase of eight per cent in the number of motor vehicle accidents on the Monday following spring time change.

Researchers at Penn State, Virginia Tech and Singapore University also found there are massive productivity losses due to the hourly shift.

So what do you think Canada should do? When we asked you the question, the responses we got back were divided.

“Change it now and leave it alone… NOT necessary to [always] change it.Never really understood the reasoning,” Mariane Lauritsen wrote on Twitter.

“I’d much rather have an extra hour of sun to enjoy in the summer in the evening when I am actually going to enjoy it than to be woken up at 4:30 a.m. with the sun poking through the blinds.” Stephen Wragg wrote on Facebook.

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Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

-With files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Yulia Talmazan, Alan Carter, and Cole Deakin.

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