B.C. decided to move to permanent daylight time in 2019. And yet, we're still springing forward on Sunday
Premier David Eby says he'll 'ponder' whether B.C. should continue waiting on U.S. neighbours to make the move
If you haven't been losing enough sleep lately, what with the general unsettled nature of global politics these days, not to worry: you'll lose at least an hour this weekend when the clocks spring forward to daylight saving time.
Most of British Columbia springs forward Sunday at 2 a.m. local time — several years after the provincial government passed legislation to set the stage for a shift to permanent daylight time.
In 2019, more than 223,000 British Columbians voted on whether or not to stop switching clocks. A whopping 93 per cent of participants voted in favour of a move to permanent daylight time. Switching to permanent standard time was not a voting option.
Legislation was passed to make the change, but without a firm timeline.
Premier David Eby has said in the past the change wouldn't be enacted until B.C.'s American neighbours — including Washington state, Oregon and California — do the same.
Daylight time, which moves the clocks forward an hour, begins on March 9 in most of B.C. and lasts until Nov. 2, when the clocks fall back an hour.
B.C.'s Peace Region and the Kootenay town of Creston have never changed clocks for daylight time. B.C.'s East Kootenay is currently aligned with the time in Alberta.
WATCH | Shifting time: It's complicated:
Sunshine Protection Act
The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight time permanent by law across the U.S., has been introduced in Congress several times, and in 2022, it was passed by the U.S. Senate. However, it still hasn't passed in the House of Representatives, which has the final say.
In January of this year, Fla. Sen. Rick Scott introduced the bill again.
"I hear from Americans constantly that they are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year — it's an unnecessary, decades-old practice that's more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them," Scott said in a news release.
Shortly after the U.S. election, Donald Trump said the Republican Party would be working to scrap daylight saving time.
"Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient and very costly to our Nation," he said in a post on X.
Premier to 'ponder' whether to keep waiting
But the relationship between Canada and the U.S. was severely fractured this week when the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods on Tuesday. What this means for things like keeping time zones aligned between the countries remains uncertain.
During a news conference on Wednesday, Eby said the latest developments between Canada and U.S. has him reconsidering whether B.C. should base its time zone on that of our U.S. neighbours.
He suggested B.C. should "stand on our own two feet as a province in relation to everything, including time zones."
"I'll ponder that one," he said.
In 2020, B.C.'s northern — and fellow Canadian — neighbour, Yukon, ditched switching the clocks. The territory chose to stay on daylight time to give residents more daylight in the evening during the long, dark winter months.
Andrew Smith, intergovernmental relations officer for the Yukon government, was tasked with dealing with the transition, including how it would impact B.C. and Alaska.
The biggest challenge was sorting out flights and border crossings, but five years later, he said everyone on either side of the border is used to it.
"It's not a huge difference," he said.
UBC business professor Werner Antweiler said despite the current situation between Canada and the U.S., he thinks the province should continue to wait and see what the U.S. does.
Prior to the U.S. tariffs, half of B.C.'s exports went to the United States.
"There is no urge to act sooner than this plays out over the next year or two," Antweiler said.
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