Permanent daylight saving time expands in Canada: ‘Gives residents what they’ve asked us for’
(NEXSTAR) – Even more clocks across Canada will not “fall back” in November as permanent daylight saving time becomes the standard.
Last week, officials in the Northwest Territories announced they would no longer observe seasonal time change. It came less than a week after Manitoba officials said daylight saving time would become permanent.
In both cases, the government pointed to survey responses from residents.
“We heard from Manitobans loud and clear – no more changing the clocks in Manitoba,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a press release. Ninety-two percent of the nearly 72,000 residents who participated in Manitoba’s survey said they wanted the seasonal time change to end. Nearly 60% of those surveyed expressed support for permanent daylight saving time.
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Of the more than 3,500 residents of the Northwest Territories who participated in a similar online survey, more than 87% said they wanted to stop changing the clocks twice a year. Once again, officials said permanent daylight saving time was the preferred option for locking the clocks.
“Ending seasonal time change gives residents what they’ve asked us for,” R.J. Simpson, Premier of the Northwest Territories, said in a press release.
Earlier this year, Alberta and British Columbia also switched to permanent daylight saving time. The latter said, in part, that “actions from the U.S. have shifted how [British Columbia] approaches decisions that merit alignment, including on time zones.”
Yukon and most of Saskatchewan have, for years, not observed the twice-annual changing of the clocks.
Nineteen U.S. states, including five that share a border with Canada, have enacted legislation calling for their clocks to lock on permanent daylight saving time. It has yet to happen for any of them, however.
States can opt into year-round permanent standard time, as Hawaii and much of Arizona have done, but they need action by Congress to observe permanent daylight saving time. Legislation has been introduced in the House to allow states to lock their clocks on year-round daylight saving time, but the chamber won’t be back in session until November.
The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act earlier this year, and President Trump has expressed his support for the bill. It’s not clear if or when the Senate could take up the bill, or if it has enough votes to pass.
Without any major changes, U.S. clocks will “fall back” to standard time on November 1, the earliest possible date daylight saving time can end.
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