A view of Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the seat of Canada’s government, in a file photo. (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times)
Many Canadians are tired of losing an hour of sleep every spring and would like to see the tradition of switching from permanent standard time to daylight saving time scrapped for good, a new survey suggests.
Eighty-six percent of respondents to a survey by polling firm Angus Reid said they are in favour of permanently abolishing the time change.
While most of those polled across the provinces agreed the time change should be axed, they were split on whether standard or daylight saving time would be the better option.
Fifty-three percent said they would prefer the later sunsets in the evenings provided by daylight saving time while 33 percent want the earlier sunrises that come with standard time.
The survey results come shortly after B.C. Premier David Eby announced his province would implement a permanent year-round daylight saving time, eliminating any seasonal time changes in British Columbia in the future.
“Every parent knows that changing clocks twice a year causes a significant amount of chaos on already busy lives. British Columbians have been clear that seasonal time changes do not work for them,” Eby said in a March 2 statement. “This decision isn’t just about clocks. It’s about making life easier for families, reducing disruptions for businesses and supporting a stable, thriving economy.”
B.C. is the second province to stop the practice of biannually resetting clocks.
Saskatchewan has long shunned the annual ’spring forward’ time change. The prairie province stopped switching to daylight saving time in 1966 and remains on Central Standard Time year-round. An exception is the city of Lloydminster, which sits on the Alberta border, and observes daylight saving time to stay aligned with Alberta.
One of Canada’s territories has also permanently given up changing the clock. Yukon has operated on a permanent, year-round time standard since March 2020.
Enthusiasm for year-round daylight saving varied from region to region in the Angus Reid survey but was lowest in Saskatchewan, which is already on permanent standard time. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they preferred to stay on standard time while 41 percent preferred to switch to daylight saving. Only 3 percent said they would prefer to switch back and forth.
Support for daylight saving was also lower in B.C., where the change has already been made, than in central and eastern provinces. Slightly less than half—49 percent—indicated a preference for daylight saving, while 37 percent favoured standard time, and 15 percent want to alternate between the two.
Albertans, like their western neighbours, also preferred daylight saving, but not by much. Forty-seven percent said they were in favour of it while 40 percent preferred a change to standard time and 13 percent want the status quo.
Support for a permanent transition to daylight saving grew with the eastern progression of the survey. It sat at 52 percent in Manitoba, 53 percent in Ontario, 56 percent in Quebec and New Brunswick, 60 percent in Nova Scotia, and 67 percent in Newfoundland.
A preference for standard time came in at 30 percent in Manitoba, 31 percent in Ontario, 29 percent in Quebec, 30 percent in New Brunswick, 27 percent in Nova Scotia, and 23 percent in Newfoundland.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted the online survey from March 11 to 16 among a randomized sample of 3,025 Canadian adults.
Daylight Saving Time
Canada first observed daylight saving time in 1908 when residents of Port Arthur, Ont., now known as Thunder Bay, turned their clocks ahead and other locations in Canada soon followed suit.
Daylight saving time was officially embraced throughout Canada during World War I to prolong daylight hours for factory work. It was reinstated on a national scale during World War II, then it was left up to the provinces and territories to regulate time observance.
All locations in Canada using daylight saving time started to follow the same start and end dates as the United States in 2007.
B.C.’s decision to make the change dates back to a 2019 public engagement survey that saw 93 percent support for year-round daylight saving time.
The province initially planned to wait to move to permanent daylight saving until the states of Washington, Oregon, and California did the same, but later opted to move ahead with the change regardless, although Eby said he is “hopeful that our American neighbours will soon join us in ending disruptive time changes.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has talked about ending clock changes, but Congress has yet to pass legislation.
Other provinces have also considered ending the practice of changing clocks.
The Ontario legislature unanimously passed the Time Amendment Act in November 2020 to implement permanent daylight saving time, however, the legislation stipulated that it would only take effect if neighbouring jurisdictions, particularly Quebec and New York State, consent to it.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford indicated in March 2022 that Ontario would “eventually” eliminate the twice-yearly time change but no firm date was given.
The main advantage of daylight saving time—whether permanent or seasonal—is the extra hour of light in the late afternoon or evening, making it easier to enjoy outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, and competitive sports later in the day. It also makes it easier for people working a standard day shift to run errands after work and still make it home in the daylight.
The province of B.C. said in its press release that the permanent change to daylight saving was expected to promote better health for individuals, minimize disruptions for families, streamline scheduling for businesses, and offer an additional hour of evening light throughout the winter months.