‘What time is it?’ The answer may not be so simple after this weekend’s time change

When Canadians wake up on Sunday, the simple question of ‘what time is it’ may not have an easy answer.

Clocks are set to roll back one hour at 2 a.m. on Nov. 1, marking the official end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) and, giving us an extra hour of sleep. But for some it will be the last time they make the time change.

Despite growing calls to end the biannual time shift, most of Ontario will continue to turn back time this weekend. The province passed legislation in 2020 to permanently stay on Daylight Saving Time but it came with a caveat – both Quebec and New York State had to make the move at the same time.

While the U.S. Senate has yet to act on a House-passed bill to make DST permanent, Quebec’s new government signaled it intends to abolish the switch after this weekend.

If Quebec were to move forward with getting rid of the time change, it would follow in the footsteps of British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba, which ended the practice this year. These three provinces have chosen to keep daylight time year-round, as has the Northwest Territories.

Certain regions in the northwestern part of Ontario are also going to maintain daylight time year-round in order to align with Manitoba.

Time change hasn’t been an issue in Saskatchewan since it ended the practice back in 1966, while the Yukon stopped moving the clocks in 2020.

Confused yet?

“This coming winter is going to be very confusing for everybody, I can’t keep track of it,” said Dr. Patricia Lakin-Thomas, professor of biology at York University. “I’ve got a map on my computer I have to keep checking like, “What time zone are you in?'”

“What they’re going to find is next spring, these province’s are going to have buyer’s remorse after a winter of the sun coming up at 9 o’clock, 9:30, 9:45; people are going to switch their opinions and they’re really going to hate it.”

Daylight Saving Time was first introduced in Canada during the First World War as a way to conserve energy by maximizing daylight hours. The idea was that shifting the clock would reduce reliance on artificial lighting and heating.

While the original rationale for energy saving is less relevant today, the argument has been that the disruption to sleep schedules and the abrupt shift in daylight patterns outweigh any benefits.

“It’s very, very hard to get up in the dark in the winter mornings… and they’re going to feel jet-lagged, it’s like being jet-lagged all the time,” says Lakin-Thomas, explaining how our biological clock needs morning sunlight in order to reset.

“When we get late afternoon light, in Daylight Saving Time, it pushes our clocks late, we want to go to bed late, and then in the morning the alarm’s going off and we have lost sleep and we’ve thrown our body out of sync – our body thinks that its a different time zone. That’s what the problem is with late afternoon light and Daylight Saving Time.”

Analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal examined multiple studies and concluded that health evidence favours moving to permanent standard time in part because it better aligns with the body’s rhythm.

“When we’re on Standard Time, we’re going to be getting up closer to sunrise, which would be the natural time to get up, and our body can adjust, our body will be synchronized better and we’ll be ready to face the day.”

While the extra hour of sleep might be welcome, experts note that even a one-hour shift can affect circadian rhythms, contributing to higher rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and weight gain, higher rates of cardiovascular disease, and even some kinds of cancer.

BUYERS REMORSE

“This has been sold by politicians as a feel-good factor, it’s very popular if you ask the population. Some of the politicians have claimed ‘We’re giving families another hour of light,’ but what they haven’t said is they’re stealing it from your morning to give it to your afternoon,” says Lakin-Thomas, who points out other places have gone down this road only to have buyers remorse; Russia tried year-round daylight time and ditched it after three years and the United Kingdom bailed after only two years.

During the 1974 energy crisis, the United States instituted year-round Daylight Saving Time, only to have the measure repealed after one year.

“Everyone seemed to like it before it took effect. However, once it took effect, a lot of people didn’t like the fact that they had to get up in the dark to go to work, and even more, they didn’t like sending their kids to school in the dark,” said Dr. David Prerau, one of the world’s foremost authorities on DST.

“People only think about the clock change, they don’t think about the negative of having Daylight Saving Time in the winter.”

Prerau noted that at one point after World War II, the United States actually allowed individual cities to decide if they wanted Daylight or Standard Time, and it was predictably chaotic.

“It got to the point where people didn’t know what time it was when they were calling somebody in another state. For a person who calls, not such a big deal but for business it was very bad,” he explained. “In Minnesota we have the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and there was one time that one was on daylight time and one wasn’t.”

Scientists who study biological clocks and sleep experts are calling for a national strategy to rationalize the time zones and put them closer to “natural time” and do what would be best for the whole country.

Here’s a look at the breakdown of time change across the country:

British Columbia

Announced in March that it was moving to permanent Pacific daylight time. The change also means that parts of northeastern B.C., which have been on mountain standard time year-round, are now in alignment with the rest of the province. It will be aligned with Washington State in the summer months and one hour ahead in winter.

Alberta

Located in the mountain time zone, also switched to permanent daylight time this year. The province calls it Alberta time.

Saskatchewan

On permanent central standard time since 1966.

Manitoba

Will be sticking with daylight time in the central time zone, meaning it won’t be aligned with the other Prairie provinces and will stay one hour ahead. The province will be on the same time as Ontario and Quebec in the winter and one hour behind in the summer.

Ontario

Passed a law in 2020 to end the twice-yearly changing of clocks and make daylight time permanent — but only if Quebec and New York agree to do the same. Earlier this month, the province published a regulation leaving a portion of the northwest on year-round time in alignment with Manitoba.

Quebec

Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says his government intends to abolish the time change. He said on Oct. 28 that the province hasn’t yet decided whether to keep daylight time or standard time year-round.

Atlantic provinces

In 2022 decided to hold off on any move toward dropping the time change until they saw what neighbouring jurisdictions would do.

Yukon

Moved to end time changes in 2020. The territory observes mountain standard time.

Northwest Territories

Followed Alberta’s lead earlier this year to end seasonal time changes. The territory is on permanent daylight time.

Nunavut

Spans three time zones; continues to change clocks twice a year except for Southampton Island.