Canada is divided into five time zones: Mountain, Central, Eastern, Atlantic and Newfoundland time.[a] Many areas of the country's provinces and territories operate on standard time from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March and daylight saving time the rest of the year.[1]

The divisions between time zones are based on proposals by Scottish Canadian railway engineer Sandford Fleming, who pioneered the use of the 24-hour clock, the world's time zone system, and a standard prime meridian.[2]

Official time

Main article: National Research Council Time Signal

The National Research Council (NRC) maintains Canada's official time through the use of atomic clocks.[3] The official time is specified in legislation passed by the individual provinces. In Quebec it is based on coordinated universal time.[4] The other provinces use mean solar time.[5][6][7] The NRC provides both coordinated universal time and mean solar time in its signals.[8] It makes time servers available for direct synchronization with computers. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired a daily time signal, the National Research Council Time Signal, beginning 5 November 1939.[9] The signal was discontinued on 15 October 2023.[10]

Time notation

Main article: Date and time notation in Canada#Time

The Government of Canada recommends use of the 24-hour clock (e.g. ), which is widely used in contexts such as transportation schedules, parking meters, and data transmission.[11] Speakers of Canadian French predominantly use this system, but most Canadian English speakers use the 12-hour clock in everyday speech (e.g. ), even when reading from a 24-hour display, similar to the use of the 24-hour clock in the United Kingdom.

Zones

Mountain Time Zone

Mountain Standard Time (MST) UTC−07:00 year-round

Mountain Standard Time (MST) UTC−07:00 and Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) UTC−06:00

Central Time Zone

Central Standard Time (CST) UTC−06:00 year-round

Central Standard Time (CST) UTC−06:00 and Central Daylight Time (CDT) UTC−05:00

Eastern Time Zone

Eastern Standard Time (EST) UTC−05:00 year-round

Eastern Standard Time (EST) UTC−05:00 and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) UTC−04:00

Atlantic Time Zone

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) UTC−04:00 year-round

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) UTC−04:00 and Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT) UTC−03:00

Newfoundland Time Zone

Newfoundland Standard Time (NST) UTC−03:30 and Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT) UTC−02:30

Former time zones

  • The Yukon Time Zone (UTC−09:00) covered most of Yukon from 1900 until 1966. In 1973, the last portions of Yukon switched to Pacific Time, leaving UTC−09:00 unused in Canada.
  • In 1988, Newfoundland observed "double daylight saving time" from 3 April until 30 October, meaning that the time was set ahead by 2 hours.[14] All of Newfoundland and southern Labrador, which observes UTC−03:30 as its standard time zone, observed UTC−01:30.[15] This only happened in 1988 and the province now only adjusts its time by one hour for daylight saving time.
  • Pacific Standard Time (UTC−08:00) was used in Yukon and most of British Columbia until 2020[16] and 2026,[17] respectively. Both jurisdictions switched to year-round Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00, equivalent to Mountain Standard Time),[18] leaving UTC−08:00 unused in Canada.

Daylight saving time

Main article: Daylight saving time in Canada

Four Canadian cities, by local ordinance, observed daylight saving time in 1916. Brandon, Manitoba, adopted it on 17 April. It was followed by Winnipeg on 23 April, Halifax on 30 April, and Hamilton, Ontario, on 4 June.[19] Port Arthur, Ontario, was the first place in the world to introduce it, on 1 July 1908.

Daylight saving time is observed in eight of ten provinces and two of three territories, with exceptions in several provinces and Nunavut. Most of the province of Saskatchewan, despite geographically being in the Mountain Time Zone, observes year-round CST. In 2020, the territory of Yukon abandoned seasonal time change and moved to permanently observing MST year-round.[20] Under the Constitution of Canada, laws related to timekeeping are a purely provincial matter. In practice, since the late 1960s DST across Canada has been closely or completely synchronized with its observance in the United States to promote consistent economic and social interaction. When the United States extended DST in 1987 to the first Sunday in April, all DST-observing Canadian provinces followed suit to mimic the change.

In 2019, the legislature of British Columbia began the process of eliminating the practice of observing daylight saving time in the province. On 31 October 2019, the government introduced Bill 40 in the legislature, which would define "Pacific Time" as "7 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)".[21] In a press release, the provincial government stated an intention to maintain alignment of clock time with Washington, Oregon, California, and Yukon.[22] The move follows a consultation earlier in 2019, in which the province received over 223,000 responses, 93% of which said they would prefer year-round DST as compared to the status quo of changing the clocks twice a year.[23][24][25] The premier of British Columbia discussed the issue with Yukon premier Sandy Silver, who said in October that he needs more consultation with Yukon stakeholders, and with Alberta and Alaska.[26] On 2 March 2026, Premier David Eby announced that following these consultations, the province will permanently adopt daylight time on 8 March 2026; however, some eastern parts of the province that use Mountain Time will not be affected by the change.[27]

The latest United States change (Energy Policy Act of 2005) to daylight saving time, adding parts of March and November to when daylight saving time is observed, which began in 2007 was also adopted by the various provinces and territories of Canada.

IANA time zone database

Data for Canada from zone.tab of the IANA time zone database. Columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself.

C.c.*Coordinates*TZ*Comments*UTC offsetUTC offset DSTDescriptionMap

Uses UTC−03:30 with daylight saving time

Includes the entire Island of Newfoundland and the Labrador Straits region of Labrador

Has used UTC−04:00 year-round since the IANA cutoff date in 1970; alias for America/Puerto_Rico

Includes all of Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality

Now in sync with America/Halifax but did not adopt daylight saving time until 1972

Likely includes all of Cape Breton Island[28]

Now in sync with America/Halifax but from 1987–2011, started and ended daylight saving time at 12:01 am rather than 2:00 am

Includes all of Labrador except for the Labrador Straits region

Uses UTC−04:00 with daylight saving time

Includes a majority of Nova Scotia, all of Prince Edward Island, and Quebec's Magdalen Islands and Listuguj Miꞌgmaq First Nation[29]

Now in sync with America/Halifax but prior to 2007, started and ended daylight saving time at 12:01 am rather than 2:00 am

Includes all of New Brunswick

Redirects to America/Iqaluit—
Now in sync with America/Toronto but used −04:00 with daylight saving time until 1995
Redirects to America/Toronto as of version 2015c—

Uses UTC−05:00 with daylight saving time

Includes a majority of Ontario and Quebec. Legally, its western boundary is the 90th meridian west but in practice, it is not observed by Big Trout Lake. Adoption of daylight saving time in Ontario may have been patchy until 1974.

Redirects to America/Toronto as of version 2022f

Created for places observing Eastern time that allegedly did not observe DST 1967–1973 but this was not well sourced

—

Redirects to America/Toronto

Created because of a claim that Thunder Bay did not use DST in 1973

—

Has used UTC−05:00 year-round since the IANA cutoff date in 1970; alias for America/Panama

Includes areas legally in Central Time but in practice observe EST year-round

In sync with America/Winnipeg since the IANA cutoff date but kept as a separate zone

Redirects to America/Winnipeg as of version 2022f

Created for places observing Central Time that allegedly did not observe daylight saving time from 1967–1973, but this is not well sourced

—

Now in sync with America/Winnipeg but skipped daylight saving time in 2007

Includes Southampton Island

Uses UTC−06:00 with daylight saving time

Includes Big Trout Lake and Denare Beach in practice, though by law they should be in America/Toronto and America/Regina, respectively

Now uses UTC−07:00 with daylight saving but used UTC−06:00 with daylight saving from 1999 to 2001

Includes the western third of Nunavut

Has used UTC−06:00 year-round since the IANA cutoff date in 1970

Now uses UTC−06:00 year-round but used UTC−07:00 year-round until 1972

Includes southwest Saskatchewan. Map is approximate; the exact boundaries are based on old school districts.

Uses UTC−06:00 year-round but used UTC−07:00 with daylight saving time until 2026

Includes all of Alberta, Lloydminster in Saskatchewan, southeast British Columbia, and the eastern half of the Northwest Territories

Redirects to America/Edmonton—
Has used UTC−07:00 year-round since the IANA cutoff date in 1970; alias for America/Phoenix

Now uses UTC−07:00 year-round but used UTC−07:00 with daylight saving time until 1973

Includes the eastern half of Peace River Regional District

Now uses UTC−07:00 year-round but used UTC−07:00 with daylight saving time until 2015

Includes Northern Rockies Regional Municipality in British Columbia

Now uses UTC−07:00 year-round but used UTC−08:00 with daylight saving time until 2026

Includes a majority of British Columbia

Now in sync with America/Edmonton but used UTC−08:00 with daylight saving time until 1979

Defined as areas in NWT west of 120th meridian west[30]

Now uses UTC−07:00 year-round but used UTC−08:00 with daylight saving time until 2019

Includes a majority of Yukon

Now uses UTC−07:00 year-round but used UTC−09:00 with daylight saving time until 1973 and used UTC−08:00 with daylight saving time from 1973-2019

Includes all of Yukon west of 138th meridian west[31]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ At any given time in Canada, either five or six UTC offsets are active in Canada: UTC−7, UTC−6, UTC−5, UTC−4, UTC−3:30 (standard time only), UTC−3 (DST only), and UTC−2:30 (DST only).
  2. ^ Tungsten (Cantung) Airport is shown as observing PST/PDT[1]
  3. ^ Prairie Creek Airport in southwest NWT, operated by Canadian Zinc, is shown as observing PST/PDT.[1]
  4. ^ Will become UTC−07:00 year-round starting in November 2026.
  5. ^ Municipal government is moving to adopt either UTC−07:00 or UTC−06:00 year-round.
  6. ^ Territorial government is moving to adopt UTC−06:00 year-round.
  7. ^ The nearby Obre Lake/North of Sixty Airport and Kasba Lake Airport are respectively shown as operating on CST/CDT.[1]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ Creet, Mario (1990). "Sandford Fleming and Universal Time". Scientia Canadensis: Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. 14 (1–2): 66–89. doi:10.7202/800302ar
  3. ^ "NRC time services". National Research Council. Archived 20 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  4. ^ National Assembly (1 January 2007). "Legal Time Act 2006". Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. ^ Queen's Printer, St John's (2012). "Standard Time Act RSNL 1990". Retrieved 21 September 2020. By §2(1) "Time in the province shall be reckoned as 3 1/2 hours later [sic] than Greenwich mean solar time."
  6. ^ Queen's Printer for Ontario (31 December 1990). "Time Act, R.S.O. 1990". Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  7. ^ The Queen's Printer (26 February 1978). "The Time Act 1978". Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  8. ^ National Research Council (28 July 2020). "DUT1 announcement". Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  9. ^ Bartlett, Geoff (5 November 2014). "'The beginning of the long dash' indicates 75 years of official time on CBC". CBC News. Archived 5 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  10. ^ Taekema, Dan (10 October 2023). "The end of the long dash: CBC stops broadcasting official time signal". CBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  11. ^ Collishaw, Barbara (2002). "FAQs on Writing the Time of Day". Terminology Update. 35 (3): 11. Archived 14 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  12. ^ General, Attorney (2 March 2026). "Adopting permanent daylight saving time". BC Gov News. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  13. ^ Legal time in Québec Archived 11 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of Justice of Quebec, 20 April 2015.
  14. ^ Benesh, Peter (21 June 1988). "Daylight Almost Until Midnight: Newfoundland Tries out Double Daylight-Saving Time". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  15. ^ Order re: Newfoundland Double Daylight Savings Time, 1988. O.C. 1404/87. Newfoundland Gazette, 1988-02-19, page 67.
  16. ^ "What We Heard: Seasonal Time Change Public Engagement" (PDF), Government of Yukon, 3 March 2020, archived 13 March 2026 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 26 May 2026
  17. ^ "Permanent daylight saving time - Province of British Columbia". Government of British Columbia. 23 March 2026. Archived 26 May 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 May 2026.
  18. ^ "Learn about Yukon Standard Time". Government of Yukon. 15 January 2026. Archived 26 May 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 May 2026.
  19. ^ Doris Chase Doane, Time Changes in Canada and Mexico, 2nd edition, 1972.
  20. ^ Government of Yukon (4 March 2020). "Yukon to end seasonal time change". Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  21. ^ "Bill 40 – 2019: Interpretation Amendment Act, 2019". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. 2019. Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Interpretation amendment act sets stage for year-round daylight time". British Columbia Office of the Premier / Ministry of Attorney General. 31 October 2019. Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  23. ^ Chan, Cheryl (11 September 2019). "B.C. survey shows overwhelming support for permanent Daylight Saving Time". Vancouver Sun. Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  24. ^ "Daylight Saving Time Public Consultation: Final Report". 2019. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  25. ^ "B.C.'s daylight saving survey gets more public engagement than marijuana regulation". CBC News. 5 July 2019. Archived 7 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  26. ^ Plonka, Gabrielle (1 October 2019). "B.C. premier meets with Silver, grand chief". Whitehorse Daily Star. Archived 2 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  27. ^ "B.C. to end time changes, adopt year-round daylight time". CBC News. 2 March 2026.
  28. ^ Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. "tzdb data for North and Central America and environs". Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  29. ^ Legal Time Act, CQLR c T-5.1, s 2.
  30. ^ Interpretation Act, SC 1967–68, c 7, s 28, "standard time".
  31. ^ Interpretation Ordinance, YCO 1967/59.