It’s that time of year again. This weekend, Quebecers will get an extra hour of sleep and lose an hour of evening daylight in the process.
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, when clocks fall back one hour (your phone and computer should update on their own, but the clocks on your stove, microwave and car probably won’t).
But this year, a growing list of provinces and territories won’t be joining in. For many Canadians, this weekend’s time change simply isn’t happening.
Here’s where clocks are staying put across the country.
British Columbia
B.C. switched its clocks for the last time back in March, when it moved to permanent Pacific daylight time. So while we fall back, Vancouver will stay put, leaving the city two hours behind Montreal for the winter instead of the usual three.
Alberta
Alberta has also stopped changing its clocks, moving to what it calls “Alberta time.” That means it now shares the same time as Saskatchewan all year.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan has been skipping the switch for decades.
Manitoba
Manitoba announced in September that it would stay on daylight time year-round, after a public survey found 92% of nearly 72,000 respondents wanted the seasonal time change gone.
Once Quebec falls back on Sunday, Winnipeg will be on the exact same time as Montreal.
Northwestern Ontario
Manitoba’s decision had a ripple effect next door. Earlier this month, Ontario confirmed that Kenora and other communities in the northwest, which share a time zone with Manitoba, will also stay on daylight time starting November 1.
The rest of Ontario, including Toronto and Ottawa, will fall back with us.
Yukon and the Northwest Territories
Yukon was ahead of the curve, ditching the time change back in 2020. The Northwest Territories has adopted a similar change this year.
And a corner of Quebec
Believe it or not, not every Quebecer will be touching their clocks this weekend either. Some communities in the eastern part of the province, including Blanc-Sablon, don’t observe daylight saving time at all.
So why is the rest of Quebec still doing it?
It’s not for lack of interest. In a provincial consultation in 2024, about 91% of the roughly 214,000 Quebecers who responded said they wanted to stop changing the clocks.
Still, the province hasn’t made a decision, and it probably won’t until neighbours like Ontario and New York make the first move. Down south, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act in July, which would make daylight time permanent, though it still needs Senate approval.
The incoming Parti Québécois government hasn’t said where it stands yet, which means we’re in for another winter of extra early sunsets.