Sleep is a precious thing but if we want those summer months to start rolling in, sacrificing that hour of sleep next week might not be so bad.
That’s right – Daylight Saving Time (DST) is almost here and most Canadians will be springing their clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Mar. 11 – just in time to kick off March Break week for many students.
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This means the sunrise and sunset will take place an hour later and there will be more sunlight in the evening.
(Daylight Saving takes place on the second weekend in March, and then ends the first weekend in November, this year being Nov. 4).
However, not all provinces will be going through this change as DST is regulated on a province-by-province basis, the National Research Council points out. There are some exceptions in certain municipalities, though.
Some locations that do not follow DST include:
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- Peace River, Regional District, B.C.
- Fort Nelson, B.C.
- Creston, B.C.
- Pickle Lake, Ont.
- New Osnaburgh, Ont.
- Atikokan, Ont.
- Quebec’s north shore
The idea of daylight saving came from Benjamin Franklin in 1784.
The first time Canada engaged in Daylight Saving Time was in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Ont. It was used as a way to cut costs on coal and save money on energy. The rest of North America adopted it in 1918 but repealed it after the Second World War.
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According to CNN, over 70 countries take part in DST today, however many countries near the equator do not use it. Neither does China nor Japan.
But as we lose an hour of sleep, our health may be impacted.
One study by the American Academy of Neurology in 2016 found that the risk of having an ischemic stroke during the first two days after a daylight saving time transition increased by eight per cent.
The switch may also increase the risk of heart attack, a 2014 study by the American College of Cardiology reported. In fact, researchers found a 25 per cent jump in the number of heart attacks that happen the Monday after we “spring forward” when compared to other Mondays throughout the year.
– With files from Patricia Kozicka
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