British Columbians will spring forward for the last time this weekend.
The province said Monday that B.C. will adopt permanent Daylight Saving Time when the clocks move forward one hour on March 8.
It comes years after B.C. introduced legislation that paved the way for a move to permanent daylight time. The province said in 2019 the change wouldn’t take effect until Washington, Oregon and California are all aligned on the move.
Several U.S. states have enacted legislation or made moves toward maintaining daylight time year-round, but the changes can’t take effect without movement from Congress.
Premier David Eby said Monday B.C. is done waiting.
“This is an unusual time, and we had committed to wait for out American partners. But the reality is that they’re stuck and we want to help give them a push that they need,” said Eby.
Eby said he hopes U.S. Congress “will make the right decision” and allow the Western states to follow B.C.’s lead.
The next time change would have been Nov. 1, 2026, but now the clocks will remain the same instead of “falling back.” The province said people and businesses will have eight months to adjust to permanent DST.
B.C.’s new time zone, Pacific Time, will be set seven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC-7, matching the current offset used during daylight saving time.
The switch means B.C. and Yukon’s time zones will be aligned year-round. From November to March, B.C.’s time zone will match Alberta and other regions observing MST. From March to November every year, it will align with California, Washington, Oregon and other Pacific Daylight Time jurisdictions.
The government said the purpose of the change is to improve people’s overall health, reduce disruptions for families, simplify scheduling and provide an extra hour of evening light during the winter months.
“Having more light on the roads for drivers at the end of the day, coming home from work, will have the impact, we hope, of reducing collisions and ensuring what little light we do have in British Columbia in those short days during the winter is concentrated when the majority of activity is taking place,” said Eby.
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said it marks the end of a twice-yearly ritual that goes back more than 100 years in B.C. But she said it will bring health improvements for shift workers like nurses, paramedics and hospitality workers who won’t need to deal with the disruptions to their sleep schedules.
“At a time when so much around us an feel chaotic and out of control, I think this consistency with sticking to one time zone will be much needed,” said Sharma.
The province said B.C. communities that observe some form of Mountain Time instead of Pacific Time will not be affected by the changes. It said the move will bring some communities more into alignment with the rest of the province. It cites Dawson Creek as an example. The northeastern B.C. city observes Mountain Standard Time year-round and will be on the same time as most other places in British Columbia following the change.
The province conducted a survey in 2019 that found 93 per cent of British Columbians supported moving to daylight time permanently. The province said support for year-round observance of DST was higher than 90 per cent across nearly all industry groups.
Ryan Mitton with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said many businesses were surprised by the move, years after the initial consultations took place. Mitton said Monday’s announcement came after a limited and rushed consultation with the business community last week.
“The last time we spoke about ending the time change, one of the big conclusions was that we needed to be co-ordinated with other jurisdictions,” said Mitton. He said there are concerns that it will cause uncertainty for businesses who trade goods or services across the U.S. border or to other provinces.
“We’re worried this is an attempt to distract from the devastating financial situation in B.C. and trying to divert people’s attention away from the budget,” said Mitton.
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