Ready to lose an hour of sleep, Victoria?
Don’t worry, we aren’t either, but with that said, this is your friendly reminder it’s the most wonderful time of the year yet again: Daylight Saving Time (DST).
The practice kicks in yet again across BC and beyond, with clocks moving forward one hour as of 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 12th.
While smartphones and laptops will automatically take away one hour of precious sleep time, don’t forget to change the time on analog clocks – and ovens, microwaves, etc. – manually!
Here’s a list of 5 facts about Canada’s century-old chase for extra daylight:
114 years of tradition
The first community in Canada to adopt Daylight Saving is Thunder Bay, Ontario, who turned their clocks forward back in 1908.
It didn’t take long for other provinces to catch on, with most adopting the practice by 1918.
Not all British Columbians participate
11 communities in BC prefer to keep things simple, and have opted out of the country’s Daylight Saving time change.
The communities, which can be found in eastern and south-eastern BC, never change their clocks, meaning they use Mountain Time (the same as Calgary and Edmonton) in the winter, and Victoria’s Pacific Standard Time in the summer.
The communities include Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Hudson’s Hope, Fort St. John, Taylor, Tumbler Ridge, Branbrook, Fernie, Sparwood, Golden, and Invermere.
Most of Saskatchewan will be sleeping in
While most BC communities use Daylight Saving, with a few that do not, Saskatchewan is the opposite.
The majority of the central province does not practice Daylight Saving, with only a few that do change their clocks. These rare communities include Lloydminster, Denare Beach, and Creighton.
Keeping time with neighbours
Before 2006, Daylight Saving would occur on the first Sunday of April and last Sunday of October.
When the United states changed their schedule to mid-March and early November, Canada followed suit, partly to maintain convenient business interactions with our southern neighbours.
BC mayors voted to end Daylight Saving in 2018
In September 2018, municipal leaders in BC held a vote on whether or not to end Daylight Saving.
The resolution was ultimately shot down, with Premier Horgan saying, “we have no plans to change Daylight Saving Time at this point,” at a conference at the time.
In 2019, a record breaking 223,273 BC residents responded to a survey about ending DST, and 93% voted in favour of making a permanent switch to Daylight Saving Time.
For now though, come this Sunday, prepare yourselves to Spring Forward yet again.
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