By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle

The biannual ritual of setting clocks forward and backward each spring and fall – or having your smartphone do it for you – has finally been ended in BC.

The provincial government announced today that British Columbia is adopting permanent year-round daylight saving time (DST)  meaning an extra hour of evening daylight during the winter months.

While the Province had previously been waiting for alignment with US west coast states, it said today that “recent actions from the US have shifted how BC approaches decisions that merit alignment, including on time zones.

“Making this change now reflects the current preferences and needs of British Columbians, and helps ensure the province is well-positioned to thrive, even when circumstances across the border evolve.”

The province is also pitching the fact the move will improve people’s overall health, reduce disruptions for families, and simplify scheduling.

“British Columbians have been clear that seasonal time changes do not work for them,” said Premier David Eby.

“This decision isn’t just about clocks,” Eby added. “It’s about making life easier for families, reducing disruptions for businesses and supporting a stable, thriving economy. I am hopeful that our American neighbours will soon join us in ending disruptive time changes.”

In a statement the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, (CFIB) was less enthusiastic saying the move was nothing more than an attempt to distract from the province’s $13-billion deficit announced nearly two weeks ago.

“Today’s announcement will be a surprise to small businesses and comes after a rushed and limited consultation process,” said Kalith Nanayakkara, Senior Policy Analyst at the CFIB. “While some may be relieved not to change the clocks each year, the lack of coordination with other jurisdictions risks causing confusion and disruption,” he added.

BC’s transition to one year-round time zone will begin after the province “springs forward” on Sunday, March 8, 2026, when clocks move ahead by one hour. This will be the final time change in British Columbia.

People and businesses will have eight months to prepare for Nov. 1, 2026, when clocks would usually be turned back, but now will remain the same. At that point, the transition to Pacific time (from the current Pacific Standard Time), the name of BC’s new time zone, will be complete,

Pacific time will be set seven hours behind co-ordinated universal time (UTC-7), matching the current offset used during daylight saving time.

In summer 2019, the Province conducted a public engagement on time observance that saw participation from a record 223,000 people, with 93 per cent supporting adopting year-round DST. Similarly, across all industry groups and nearly all occupational groups, support for year-round DST observance was higher than 90 per cent.

But despite the fact the NDP government passed legislation in 2019 that would make daylight time permanent across the province, it said at the time it would only be enacted once the US west coast states of Washington, Oregon and California did the same in order to keep the provincial economy aligned with its US neighbours. The Senate passed the bill but the US House of Representatives killed it in the end because they couldn’t decide on whether to keep standard or daylight time.

Health and other impacts

Evidence suggests there are many benefits to ending the seasonal time change, including:

  • more consistency and fewer disruptions to sleep patterns, school schedules, and daily routines;
  • more usable light in the evenings in winter, allowing more leisure time, participation in outdoor activities and consumer activity;
  • reduced administrative burden for small businesses and service providers who may require less system reprogramming, schedule shifts and operational resets every spring and fall;
  • more consistency for planning across transportation and technology services.

Changing clocks for Daylight Saving Time also has significant health impacts, inducing what has been called “social jetlag”.

Major impacts include a 25 per cent surge in heart attacks and increased stroke risk, up to a 30 per cent increase in traffic accidents, pedestrian and workplace accidents, disrupted sleep and worsened mood disorders (particularly in the spring), according to Canadian health data.

How the change will be made

The Interpretation Amendment Act, which is the legal framework that enables the Province to adopt permanent DST, became law in 2019.

At the time, the government chose not to bring it into force in order to co-ordinate timing with neighbouring US states in the same time zone.

But with relations souring on the back of Donald Trumps tariff war and talk of annexing Canada the Province notes priorities have changed. Regulation will bring the amendments into effect after Sunday, March 8, 2026.

The provincial government said it will work closely with organizations, small businesses, and public-sector partners between March and November 2026 to ensure “a smooth, well-co-ordinated transition to permanent DST.”

Locations that observe mountain time

The Province also noted there are a small number of communities in eastern parts of BC that observe some form of Mountain time instead of Pacific time, saying those regions will not be affected by these changes.

It added that as a result of Pacific time no longer changing twice a year, “many of these communities will be brought into greater alignment with the rest of British Columbia.”

For example, Dawson Creek, which observes mountain standard time year-round, will be on the same time as most other places in British Columbia in the winter and summer months. Whereas places like Cranbrook that observe mountain time, but switch between standard and daylight times, will be aligned with the rest of the province during the winter months, but will be one hour ahead in the summer.

Quick facts:

  • BC’s new time zone, Pacific time, will be aligned with the Yukon year round;
  • From November until March annually, Pacific time will match Alberta and other regions observing mountain standard time;
  • From March until November every year, Pacific time will align with California, Washington, Oregon and other Pacific daylight time jurisdictions;
  • Neighbour jurisdictions like Washington, Oregon and California are all in the process of creating or enacting similar legislation.